Doctoral Dissertation Research: Punishment and Work in the US Prison System

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This project will address how inmate labor in US prisons is organized, what strategies and practices inmates draw on in different work contexts, and how different inmate groups experience and are affected by work behind bars. The US now has more prisoners than any other nation. Most eligible inmates work during their time in prison. These working prisoners facilitate daily prison functions, perform services for surrounding municipalities, and provide goods and services for state and private entities. Debates persist over the implications of inmate labor for individual offenders and society as a whole. This dissertation research will address ongoing theoretical debates and public discussions regarding punishment and work by foregrounding the structure of inmate work programs and the on-the-job experiences and understandings of inmates and prison staff members alike. It will move beyond questions of who is sent to prison in the first place or how offenders fare post-release; instead, this project contributes to an understanding of how penal labor practices impact different segments of the inmate population in the time between initial incarceration and eventual release, as well as implications for individuals? outcomes and aspirations. This research will provide novel insights into prison labor that may be useful to prison administrators and policymakers tasked with addressing these issues. Two central questions guide this research: (1) How are prison work programs and employment systems structured (i.e., what types of positions are available, how must inmates compete for assignments, what skills or qualities are prioritized in the prison labor market)? (2) How does this structure help shape the experiences, outlooks, and outcomes of working offenders? To address these concerns, this research draws on 18 months of ethnographic observations in prison work programs within one anonymous state prison in the US Sunbelt region, as well as 82 in-depth interviews with inmate laborers and prison staff members. Online and archival data detailing the characteristics of prisons and prison work programs throughout the Sunbelt region help situate findings from this field site in broader contexts. Much research on penal labor and its outcomes relies on quantitative analyses of aggregate trends or post-release reports from ex-offenders. This study provides a rigorous assessment of prison labor from the inside, utilizing sociological theories of the labor process, punishment, and social reproduction to help explain how nuanced experiences of work in prison may impact those behind bars. Findings contribute to carceral sociology, the sociology of work, and to prison and labor policy.