University of Victoria
On the Outside
A convict's life in a total institution is consumed with regimented boredom and periodic moments of explosive violence; sensory and social deprivation and punitive interventions. This begs the questions: How then do these men and women return to life on the outside and succeed after years of isolation from the social body? Indeed, how do those that who care about them cope with both the imprisonment of their loved ones and their subsequent release? In this panel, Canadian researchers consider the impact of doing time on lives outside the prison walls at the edges of society and the strategies used to overcome the obstacles encountered in adjusting to ‘freedom’. Drawing on ethnomethodological research with former prisoners and their loved ones panelists draw on diverse theoretical lenses (governmentality, feminist, critical human geography, and symbolic interactionism) in order to explore transitions to the community, workforce, and intimate social relationships.
This session is not open to the Call for Papers.
Chair and Discussant: Kevin Walby, University of Victoria
Former Long term Prisoners in Neo-liberal times: Navigating the New Economy
Chris Bruckert, University of Ottawa, bruckert@uottawa.ca
The challenges of resetting into society after lengthy incarceration are exacerbated in the current socio-economic climate. Today former long term prisoners must not only relearn the rhythms of work on the ‘outside’ but also navigate the new economy and reconfigured labour market that transformed while they were ‘inside’. In this presentation I draw on in-depth interviews with twenty formerly incarcerated men who have been in the community for five years or more. Labour theory provides a conceptual point of entry to examine how the men, as gendered social actors, struggle to ‘catch up’ and how this plays out in their efforts to be fiscally stable and to forge meaningful places for themselves in the wage economy. I conclude the presentation with some reflections on those who ‘opt out’ of this normative expectation.
Wednesday June 5, 2013 08:45 AM - 10:15 AM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-161
Liberty Returned and the Practical Limits of Freedom: the post-carceral experiences of former long-term prisoners in Canada
Melissa Munn, Okanagan College, mmunn@okanagan.bc.ca
After prison, formerly incarcerated individuals are ‘free’ to re-establish their lives – to reintegrate – to resettle; however, the meaning of freedom and the lived experience of it is complicated, fragile and embedded in contemporary soci-economic structures. Using the work of Michel Foucault, governmentality theorists and critical human geographers, this presentation will examine how men who served over a decade in prison experience the return of liberty in the years following their release. Under specific consideration will be the lasting influence of the total institution, the impact of neo-liberal rationalities on resettlement and the use of space to contain freedom.
Wednesday June 5, 2013 08:45 AM - 10:15 AM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-161
© Canadian Sociological Association ⁄ La Société canadienne de sociologie