Compromised power and negotiated order in a Ukrainian prison

Analyzing data from a semi-ethnographic study in a Ukrainian medium-security prison for men, I discuss how officers and prisoners negotiate order to produce a manageable, stable, predictable, peaceful and relatively habitable prison environment. Broadening the debate about power and order by introdu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Symkovych, Anton (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2018
In: The British journal of criminology
Year: 2018, Volume: 58, Issue: 1, Pages: 200–217
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Keywords:
Ukraine
Power
Order
Legitimacy
Authority
Prison officers
Prisoners
Strafvollzug
Vollzugsbedienstete
Strafgefangene
Totalitäres System
Description
Summary:Analyzing data from a semi-ethnographic study in a Ukrainian medium-security prison for men, I discuss how officers and prisoners negotiate order to produce a manageable, stable, predictable, peaceful and relatively habitable prison environment. Broadening the debate about power and order by introducing a case study from a non-‘Western’ context, I argue that prisoners and officers, apart from utilitarian compromises, also employ moral reasoning in their power negotiations. I demonstrate that in the context of prison’s radical deficit in legitimacy, exacerbated by a corrupt, under-reformed, post-totalitarian state, non-conformity with legal norms might be more legitimate than legal conformity.
ISSN:1464-3529
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azx012