RT Article
T1 Searching, ‘State of Security’ and the structuration of prison security
JF Body Searches and Imprisonment
SP 27
OP 44
A1 Bennett, Jamie
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1878980939
AB This chapter discusses the practices of searching in prisons in England and Wales including recent developments in technology and attempts to engage with the social, sensory and emotional dimensions of searching. Prison searching is widely used and is one of the core components of situational security, that is, measures that attempt to reduce opportunities for crime in prisons and increase the risks of detection. The chapter describes the different forms of searching deployed including the use of new technologies. It also draws upon data on finds of drugs, weapons and other contraband to evidence the salience of searching in the prison environment. Searching, however, also has sensory and emotional elements through the application of bodily contact. It is also an exercise of state power over people in prison. The social dimensions of searching are therefore also significant. This has always been recognised in law and policy that constrains and regulates the conduct of searching. Recent work in England and Wales has attempted to develop this further, encouraging engagement with ideas including ‘procedural justice’, ‘trauma-informed practice’ and recognising racial disproportionality in security and policing practices. These approaches attempt to increase fairness and legitimacy. While this development is in its early stages, it is a conscious attempt to engage with Sparks et al.’s (1996) concept of the ‘structuration of prison life’ involving an approach that “seeks to maximise the effects of, and to blend where possible, ‘legitimacy-based control’ and ‘situational control’”. The chapter concludes by discussing future prospects and ways in which this approach might be developed further.
NO Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 41-44
SN 9783031204517
DO 10.1007/978-3-031-20451-7_3