Class #7: Exit Ticket
PART 1
What does it mean to document incarceration ethnographically? And how does prison ethnography differ from ‘standard’ ethnographic research? -
Use at least THREE examples from my presentation to illustrate significant aspects of ethnographic research on imprisonment.
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Bring Bandyopadhyay (2015) into the discussion. o
What kind of source? (BEAM)
Documenting incarceration ethnographically involves immersing oneself in the prison environment to understand the social, cultural, and institutional dynamics at play. Unlike 'standard' ethnographic research, prison ethnography presents unique challenges such as negotiating access, navigating power dynamics, and grappling with limited mobility within the highly regulated prison setting. Through participant observation, interviews, and careful analysis, prison ethnography provides a nuanced understanding of the lived experiences of incarcerated individuals and sheds light on the broader structural inequalities within the criminal justice system. During the presentation, you mentioned how you would interact with vendors and families of
incarcerated and sometimes even watch plays that were put on by the prisoners, this gave you a clear understanding of the experiences of incarcerated individuals. You also mentioned how there are fewer visitors in the women's prisons as compared to men's prisons and this is because the families of female prisons are either incarcerated, wanted, or taking care of the children. The understanding of why this is the case would have not been possible if ethnographic research on female prisons hadn’t been done. Through your research on imprisonment, we understood how the shelter is important for children of incarcerated people, you gave the example of the woman who was recently released from prison and couldn’t take care of her kids, so she had joint custody with the shelter. This shed light on the
difficulty and struggles ex-prisoners faced and how the system has not fully tried to help them settle into society. PART 2
Argue that it is important to study imprisonment ethnographically. Explain your reasoning.
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Mobilize at least TWO authors we have read, especially Sudbury/Oparah, to support the claim that this approach is valuable.
