Undoing Carceral Masculinities

• In Event: The Credible Messenger Mentoring Initiative as a Social Movement

Abstract

This presentation advances theories of masculinity as they relate to Black men and boys in the era of racialized punishment. Specifically, it examines the mentoring relationships between formerly imprisoned men and boys in a mentoring initiative in Washington, D.C. Previous work documents the emergence of post-industrial carceral masculinity as a product of mass criminalization and imprisonment. This paper highlights critical departures from our present understandings of gender and masculinity in this context based on ethnographic observations and interviews with boys and men in the initiative. This presentation will focus on key findings from this work and future directions for scholars of gender, Black masculinity, and the American Carceral State.

Author

• Rod Martinez, University of Maryland, College Park