Work

More Mind Games: How ‘The Action’ and ‘The Odds’ have Changed in Prison

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Surviving prison has always involved ‘action’ and game playing. Higher stakes—‘life-trashing sentences’, the fear and risk of radicalization, increased incidences of homicide and labyrinth routes out—have compounded the experience of struggle: to be heard, for dignity, against exposure to violent injustice, and for release; the wrestling of ‘the self’ against a bleak and unyielding bureaucracy. In this article, we revisit McDermott and King’s Mind Games: Where the Action is in Prison showing how long-term prisoners are exposed to unregulated, unfathomable forms of power and action, and how long-term imprisonment feels increasingly like being ‘abandoned by humanity.’

Source: The British Journal of Criminology

DOI: 10.1093/bjc/azaa046

Authors: Alison Liebling, Ryan Williams, Elinor Lieber

Institutions: University of Cambridge, The University of Queensland

Language: English

Topic: Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $5,341