Reading Inmate Grievances: Towards a Feminist Convict Criminology Perspective

• In Event: Women of Convict Criminology: Session 1

Abstract

This work considers three questions that have emerged in developing a methodology for reading women inmates’ institutional grievances: 1) How is prisoner writing (or speech) usually mediated by individuals and institutions, and how do inmate grievances fit into this paradigm of mediation? 2) What is, or might be, the role of the researcher in reading such documents, and how can she work towards a reading that privileges the writing and position of the inmate in relation to the institution? 3) What is the expectation inmates have of privacy in relation to communicating with institutions, and what are the ethics of researching and/or making public those communications?

Author

• Deena Varner, Purdue University