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Reentering Society - An anthropological study of a reentry center, in the United States, for incarcerated people working towards their release

Merrild, Mette Carina LU (2017) SANM03 20171
Social Anthropology
Abstract
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. The phenomenon of mass incarceration largely confines minorities and people living in poverty. More than 600,000 prisoners are released yearly to face barriers of reentering society. Struggles of finding employment, housing, and being denied social services, due to their criminal record, generate a system where former inmates become second-class citizens. Participant observation was conducted at a reentry center in the Washington, D.C. area to shed light on the process of assisting prisoners with reintegrating into society. Through the lens of governmentality, tactics and procedures are carried out with the intention of minimizing risky behavior and creating an acceptable,... (More)
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. The phenomenon of mass incarceration largely confines minorities and people living in poverty. More than 600,000 prisoners are released yearly to face barriers of reentering society. Struggles of finding employment, housing, and being denied social services, due to their criminal record, generate a system where former inmates become second-class citizens. Participant observation was conducted at a reentry center in the Washington, D.C. area to shed light on the process of assisting prisoners with reintegrating into society. Through the lens of governmentality, tactics and procedures are carried out with the intention of minimizing risky behavior and creating an acceptable, law-abiding citizen. Operating within an arena that is hindered by a criminal record, the staff members play on the strings of individual agency, self-governing, and determination for inmates to restore a livelihood and achieve social and economic mobility. However, structural violence is a key feature that explains the ways in which structures in society constrain former prisoners and place them in compromised positions that foster continued social inequality and recidivism. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Merrild, Mette Carina LU
supervisor
organization
course
SANM03 20171
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
structural violence, governmentality, prisoners, reentry, social anthropology
language
English
id
8925023
date added to LUP
2017-09-09 14:36:04
date last changed
2017-09-12 14:00:47
@misc{8925023,
  abstract     = {{The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. The phenomenon of mass incarceration largely confines minorities and people living in poverty. More than 600,000 prisoners are released yearly to face barriers of reentering society. Struggles of finding employment, housing, and being denied social services, due to their criminal record, generate a system where former inmates become second-class citizens. Participant observation was conducted at a reentry center in the Washington, D.C. area to shed light on the process of assisting prisoners with reintegrating into society. Through the lens of governmentality, tactics and procedures are carried out with the intention of minimizing risky behavior and creating an acceptable, law-abiding citizen. Operating within an arena that is hindered by a criminal record, the staff members play on the strings of individual agency, self-governing, and determination for inmates to restore a livelihood and achieve social and economic mobility. However, structural violence is a key feature that explains the ways in which structures in society constrain former prisoners and place them in compromised positions that foster continued social inequality and recidivism.}},
  author       = {{Merrild, Mette Carina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Reentering Society - An anthropological study of a reentry center, in the United States, for incarcerated people working towards their release}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}