"We keep the nightmares in their cages": Correctional culture, identity, and the warped badge of honor*.
Correctional scholarship has demonstrated concern over the dehumanizing implications of the carceral state for incarcerated people. This concern has been paralleled by an interest in understanding the work of prison staff and how correctional subculture may play an active role in prison dehumanizati...
| Published in: | Criminology Vol. 60; no. 3; pp. 429 - 455 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Wiley-Blackwell
Aug2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=158572197&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 158572197 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00111384 CRM jtl: Criminology issn: 00111384 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Aug2022 vid: 60 iid: 3 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell artinfo: ui: 158572197 10.1111/1745-9125.12306 ppf: 429 ppct: 26 formats: tig: atl: "We keep the nightmares in their cages": Correctional culture, identity, and the warped badge of honor*. aug: au: Higgins, Ethan M. Smith, Justin Swartz, Kristin affil: Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of North Carolina Wilmington Department of Criminal Justice, University of Louisville su: Dehumanization Culture Focus groups Mental work Badges sug: subj: Dehumanization Culture Focus groups All Other Miscellaneous Textile Product Mills All Other Plastics Product Manufacturing Mental work Badges keyword: badge of honor correctional staff identity subculture badge of honor correctional staff identity subculture ab: Correctional scholarship has demonstrated concern over the dehumanizing implications of the carceral state for incarcerated people. This concern has been paralleled by an interest in understanding the work of prison staff and how correctional subculture may play an active role in prison dehumanization. By drawing from focus groups from all prisons in one state, we investigate how correctional staff construct and manage their identity through "us–them" ideologies. We find that staff leverage negative attitudes toward the incarcerated, and that these attitudes were underpinned by sensational cultural stories and epithets. Moreover, we find that staff use "othering" toward the incarcerated as a means to construct a warped badge of honor, which illustrates the burdens they bear from prison work and which frames themselves as heroes, guardians, and protectors. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings, where we consider how dehumanization illustrates the mental coping work staff endure to carry out the symbolic violence and dehumanizing objectives of the carceral system. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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