Prison ethnography

As my research increasingly implicates me in the world of prisoners, it's been good to engage with some literature dealing with prison ethnography, including:

• Loic Wacquant, “The Curious Eclipse of Prison Ethnography in the Age of Mass Incarceration.” Ethnography 3-4 (Winter 2002), Special issue on “In and Out of the Belly of the Beast: Dissecting the Prison”: 371-397. http://loicwacquant.net/debates/theory-and-ethnography/
• James Sutton, "An Ethnographic Account pf Doing Survey Research in Prison: Descriptions, Reflections, and Suggestions from the Field" Qualitative Sociology Review, Vol VII, Issue 2 - August 2011
• James B Waldram, "Challenges of Prison Ethnography"Anthropology News January 2009 p. 4
• Shanta Singh, "Being a Criminology Ethnographer in a South African Prison: A Search for Dynamics and Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the Westville Prison, Durban, South Africa" J. Soc. Sci., 15(1): 71-82 (2007)
• I missed this conference on 'Resisting the Eclipse: An International Symposium on Prison Ethnography http://www.open.ac.uk/icccr/events/prison-ethnography/

Anyone got any other suggestions?

Image source: http://www.onelargeprawn.co.za/2011/03/15/marked-men-russian-prison-tattoos-2/

Prison fieldwork commences

Google maps

Over the last few weeks I've commenced my fieldwork in  two NSW correctional centres. The process has been intense and not without difficulties as I try to negotiate inmates' (understandable) reluctance to be interviewed and the prison system's occasional partial or full lockdowns.

Nevertheless the work has been rewarding and I've found willing inmate participants to be both articulate and insightful of their experiences in using video links between prison and courtrooms. Corrective Services' staff have been incredibly helpful and obliging making the whole process as smooth as possible.

Bodies in Distress

This is slightly old news now but I just realised that I hadn't blogged about this already ... Last month I took part in 'Bodies in Distress' during Critical Animals (This is Not Art festival in Newcastle) at The Lock-Up. The event, organised by Gabriel Watts from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, was a collaboration between researchers Drs Una McIlvenna and Rebecca McNamara and artists Mimi Kelly and me. 

The event commenced with Grace Turner singing 17th century execution ballads (beautifully) in a small cell of The Lock-Up while Una provided insights into the ballads. Throughout the performance was Mimi's ethereal and haunting video installation and haze machine serendipitously puffing smoke every time Grace sang of a death by fire. Two cells up the corridor was my audio piece 'Felonia de se' (felony of the self) installed in the historic padded cell. My soundscape was a response to medieval legal records concerning suicide cases in England, as researched by Rebecca. I aimed to evoke uneasy imagery through text fragments and dark, otherworldly audio loops.

http://www.historyofemotions.org.au/news-media/news-listing/bodies-in-distress-at-critical-animals.aspx

A panel discussion followed concerning sin, death, punishment, corporeality and the intersections of academic research and artistic practice. A fun day out!

http://criticalanimals.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/bodies-in-distress.jpg