“We need to understand that we are dealing with humans”: Penal Spectatorship & Experiential-Learning in Criminology

• In Event: Contemporary Crises and Theoretical Applications

Abstract

Carceral logics have long been implicated for their role in (re)productions of otherness, that in settler colonial contexts such as Canada are often embedded within logics of colonialism, anti-black racism, and white supremacy. Given the persistence of these logics and the violences they perpetuate, what might it mean to confront these constructions in a criminology classroom. Based on interviews with 43 staff and faculty (n=43) of criminology departments across Canada, I consider how pedagogical tools of experiential learning, in particular the field placement, is characterized and understood by those delivering the opportunities. Participants often draw on three narratives to explain the importance of experiential learning: 1) as transformative; 2) as an obligation; and 3) its practicality. I situate these framings within a historical and contemporary examination of the field of criminology, that underscores the discipline’s (ongoing) role in the productions of othering discourses. Moreover, given the pervasiveness of how experiential learning in criminology is often tied to career pathways for criminal justice practitioners, I problematize the student-centred discourses that often leave ongoing carceral violence uncontested. Lastly, I explore these contexts within the current neoliberal university.

Author

• Mitra Mokhtari, University of Toronto