The power of the pen: Prisoners’ letters to explore extreme imprisonment

This article examines how we might best examine the most extreme and inaccessible corners of imprisonment. Drawing on a study of life imprisonment without parole (LWOP) in California, this article argues that prisoners’ letters can shed exceptional light on the hidden and unspoken experiences of imp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Vannier, Marion (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2020
In: Criminology & criminal justice
Year: 2020, Volume: 20, Issue: 3, Pages: 249-267
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Emotions
Ethics
Letters
Life Imprisonment
Prison research methods
Description
Summary:This article examines how we might best examine the most extreme and inaccessible corners of imprisonment. Drawing on a study of life imprisonment without parole (LWOP) in California, this article argues that prisoners’ letters can shed exceptional light on the hidden and unspoken experiences of imprisonment. It provides an in-depth methodological and reflective outline of how to use prisoners’ letters, a familiar tactic in prison researchers’ and advocates’ toolkits, but a research implement that is rarely discussed explicitly. By better understanding how to do prison research with letters and the emotions these might provoke in the process, this article demonstrates the very specific and distinct value of the method, in particular how letters can contribute to knowledge about extreme penal severity.
ISSN:1748-8966
DOI:10.1177/1748895818818872