The Effects of Self-Catering on Prisoners’ Detention Experiences in Belgium

• In Event: Eating Humble Pie: Using Prison Food Narratives to Understand Incarceration

Abstract

In 2005, Belgium introduced a new Prison Act. In contrast to earlier prison regulations, this law explicitly aimed to strengthen prisoners’ rights and humanize detention conditions. Normalization is considered a key principle to achieve these goals. However, the problematic Belgian prison context, dominated by budgetary constraints and prison overcrowding, has hindered the development of normalizing initiatives. In addition, the positive effects of normalization are underestimated by prison authorities. We studied the influence of self-catering, which normalizes foodways in prison, on detention experiences and prisoners’ well-being. Qualitative research was conducted in a prison that has a self-catering project that allows prisoners to buy and prepare their meals. This presentation will compare the detention experiences of prisoners participating in this project with the experiences of inmates who received prepared meals. Our results demonstrate the positive effects of the normalization of food via self-catering on prison experiences. Inmates welcomed the autonomy they experienced through self-catering. This food system allowed them to construct and preserve identity by preparing culturally specific foods. Self-catering offered a degree of responsibility that diminished the infantilization commonly experienced in prison. Finally, self-catering provided a meaningful activity to interrupt their dull and monotonous prison lives.

Author

• An-Sofie Vanhouche, Vrije Universiteit Brussel