Unlocking Realities: The Romanian Prison Experience

• In Event: PWG - Prison climate, well-being, and quality of prison life

Abstract

Background: The global prison population has reached its highest level to date, with over 11.5 million people deprived of their liberty on any given day, primarily men. Systemic prison crises such as chronic overcrowding, inhumane living conditions, lack of resources, and mismanagement have been amplified since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Romanian Penitentiary System operates at a 120.6% occupancy rate, with 24,106 people living in prison across 45 institutions, including 33 prisons for males and one for females. The Romanian Penitentiary System faces challenges upholding various international normative standards of detention. In 2023, the European Court of Human Rights issued 74 judgments related to Romanian prisons, with 58 identifying human rights violations. There is a significant absence of data concerning the Romanian prison population demographics, pre-trial and life-sentenced individuals, and bio-behavioural data.

This study uniquely contributes to understanding the custodial experiences in Romania, an area underrepresented in research with limited theoretical exploration.

Research Aim: to address the existent gap in the literature by exploring the custodial experiences of people living in prison in Romania.

Research Objectives: to explore the Romanian prison experience with regard to
• living conditions.
• social dynamics.

Methods: In-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with people who have lived experience of incarceration in Romania. Narrative data analysis approach with embedded reflexivity.

Preliminary results: The Romanian prison experience is a loyal reflection of Romanian society, where the prison environment not only replicates but also intensifies broader social inequalities, corruption, and class struggles. Prison narratives highlight the lack of internal equity within Romanian prisons and illustrate the ways in which prisoners contest penal power — whether by resisting, challenging, subverting, or rejecting it. Romanian prisons continue to exist in a state of tension, caught between their communist past and their present capitalist reality, where prison harm is bypassed only by prisoners with enough capital.

Author

• Daniela Irina Stadniciuc, Liverpool John Moores University