‘You’re Walking into Situations Where You Just Really Don’t Know How It’s Going to Go Down’: The Production of Carceral Space and Risk in Parole Work

Following interviews with 150 Canadian federal parole officers employed in prisons or community spaces, we ‘spatialize’ parole work by analysing how participants perceive and navigate risk and use emotional labour in relation to their carceral workspaces. Employing Henri Lefebvre’s theorization of t...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Norman, Mark (Author)
Contributors: Ricciardelli, Rose 1979- (Author) ; Maier, Katharina
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2025
In: The British journal of criminology
Year: 2025, Volume: 65, Issue: 2, Pages: 405-422
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
carceral space
Emotional labour
Parole
Probation
production of space
Risk
Description
Summary:Following interviews with 150 Canadian federal parole officers employed in prisons or community spaces, we ‘spatialize’ parole work by analysing how participants perceive and navigate risk and use emotional labour in relation to their carceral workspaces. Employing Henri Lefebvre’s theorization of the social production of space, we analyse how parole officers’ feelings of vulnerability arise from the interaction of the built environment with people’s use of space (including both criminalized persons and other correctional workers). We also unpack the strategies employed by parole officers to mitigate the spatial risks experienced in their occupational routines; and examine how these spatial experiences connect to the emotional labour performed by parole officers in their supportive and disciplinary job functions.
ISSN:1464-3529
DOI:10.1093/bjc/azae057