Prisoners and Prisons (Panel 2 of 3)

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

Three panels bring together state of the art scholarship on prisoners and prison, highlighting a series of papers that will be published in a thematic volume of Crime and Justice in late 2022. Panel 2 features three papers focusing on an inside perspective on prison, with two of them highlighting international perspectives on prison scholarship and marginalized groups. Paper 1 describes the consequences of the COVID -19 pandemic on prisons in the United Kingdom, arguing that incarcerated people were subjected to a “lockdown” regime bordering on long-term solitary confinement in many jurisdictions. With the consequences of these severe conditions on mental and physical health only just emerging, the authors argue that the ramifications for prison reform are profound. By comparing three case studies situated in Canada, Mexico and Norway, Paper 2 urges us to consider a more global perspective when trying to understand the situation of women in prison and reminds us that how women experience prison is related to their circumstances outside of prison. Paper 3 speaks to how and why incarcerated people join or desist from gangs while incarcerated, while highlighting the short-comings of existing research pertaining to evidence-based gang desistance programs.

Sub Unit

• Area VI. The Criminal Justice System / 48. Jails & Prisons

Individual Presentations

• The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of the Prison - Shadd Maruna, Queen's University Belfast

• Women in Prisons - Sandra Bucerius, University of Alberta

• The Prison and The Gang - David Pyrooz, University of Colorado Boulder

Chair

• Michael Tonry, University of Minnesota