Poster #171 - Perspectives on Prison Conditions, Long-Term Sentencing, and Crime Attribution: The Impact of "The Visiting Room"

• In Event: ASC Poster Session I

Abstract

Despite recent demands for U.S. prison reform, the nation is still a leader in global imprisonment, with approximately 1.2 million people in American prisons. Discussions on the dynamics of mass incarceration primarily occur in the scholarly realm, with research focusing on contributing factors and broader societal implications. Fairly recently, however, conversations on mass incarceration have moved beyond academia and into the public sphere. Such discourse is aided by popular media that spur interest in true(r) representations of imprisonment, such as documentaries (e.g., “13th”), podcasts (e.g., Ear Hustle), and investigative journalism (e.g., Marshall Project). Furthermore, researchers and individuals with lived experience have partnered to educate the public on the far-reaching effects of mass incarceration. One example is the Visiting Room Project (VRP), which vividly illustrates the consequences of “tough-on-crime” at Louisiana State Penitentiary through first-person narrative videos featuring individuals serving life-without-parole (LWOP) sentences. The authors of the current study utilize archival data from the VRP to examine how the public views and interprets prison conditions and long-term sentencing. We also assess viewers’ perspectives on crime attribution (dispositional vs. situational) based on the incarcerated person’s retelling of their past. Findings, as well as implications for research, theory, and policy, will be discussed.

Authors

• Kayla Renee Garcia, Sam Houston State University

• Miltonette Olivia Craig, Sam Houston State University

• Daniel Sailofsky, University of Toronto

• Paul Bleakley, University of Kentucky