NCJ Number
242843
Journal
Punishment & Society Volume: 14 Issue: 5 Dated: December 2012 Pages: 564-583
Date Published
December 2012
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article argues that the experience of reintegration after release from prison is similarly embodied and corporeal.
Abstract
Building on previous work which has conceptualized the embodied experience of imprisonment as prison time 'inscribed' on the body, this article argues that the experience of reintegration after release from prison is similarly embodied and corporeal. It contends that while scholarship of prisoner reintegration post-release has identified the stigmatization of ex-inmates as a challenge to their successful re-entry, the embodied experience of this process has remained under-researched. Drawing on extensive research with women prisoners, former prisoners and prison staff in the contemporary Russian Federation, the article presents empirical evidence that explores the embodied experiences of release and reintegration, identifying specific examples of prison time being 'inscribed' on the body which prove problematic for former prisoners, and demonstrating the ways in which their attempts to 'erase' or overwrite these inscriptions constitute a stage in the continual corporeal process of becoming. The article suggests that these insights could inform better understandings of experiences of reintegration, and could in turn inform the improvement of provision of services to prisoners during incarceration. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage Journals.