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...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2018
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In: |
The British journal of criminology
Year: 2018, Volume: 58, Issue: 1, Pages: 200–217 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Keywords: |
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. |
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ISSN: | 1464-3529 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azx012 |