Doing a Bid: The Construction of Time as Punishment

• In Event: Back to the Future: The Construction of Time and Prisoner Reentry

Abstract

In the context of punitive policies that incarcerate men and women for extended periods of time, reentry scholarship recognizes that interventions are required to ensure that former inmates do not recidivate. There is broad acknowledgment that returning inmates are unstable, but programs and services are not necessarily effective. The central argument in this study is that in order to decrease recidivism rates it is important to understand how inmates “do time.” This assertion, using interpretive theory, is developed through an ethnographic study of 34 participants returning home after serving time in state or federal prison. Our interpretations indicate that time is conceptualized in three central ways – routine time, marked time, and lost time. Our findings suggest that time conceptualization should be considered when creating programming for those coming home. This study adds to the rich reentry literature by connecting “doing time” directly with prisoner reentry.

Authors

• Calvin Smiley, Montclair State University

• Keesha M. Middlemass, Trinity University