Peacekeepers in Prison: Coexistence Without Control

• In Event: Institutional Harms and Failures

Abstract

This paper draws on interviews with incarcerated individuals who served as informal peacekeepers within a state prison system. These individuals played a key role in managing conflict and maintaining order—not by eliminating gangs or enforcing shared beliefs, but by creating conditions that allowed people to coexist. The most peaceful dorms, they explained, were those where individuals had space to operate on their own terms and where difference was not treated as a threat.

Peacekeepers accepted conflict as a normal part of life. Their focus was not on preventing all disagreement, but on de-escalating tensions, resolving disputes fairly, and minimizing harm. When violence was unavoidable, they worked to contain it—often encouraging people to settle issues quietly to avoid lockdowns and group punishment.

These practices offer a counter-narrative to dominant criminal justice frameworks that equate safety with control, conformity, and the erasure of difference. In a broader social context where ideological divisions often lead to suppression or violence, these incarcerated peacekeepers offer a practical, grounded approach to coexistence. Their experiences invite reflection on how we manage difference—not by enforcing sameness, but by making room for it.

Author

• Holly Sims-Bruno, University of Indianapolis