Concept-Formation, Complexity and Social Domains: Investigating Emotion(S) in a Prison Setting

Knight, Victoria; Layder, Derek

doi:10.5153/sro.4119

Cited by 2 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(48 reference statements)

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“…Prisoners are deemed less eligible for 'luxury' items like television. Nevertheless, as my study highlighted from both the narratives of prisoners and staff, the prison context needs television to help keep prisoners occupied and safe (Knight 2016).…”

Section: Responding To Our Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Victoria's project: The Role of In-cell Television in Prison My doctoral research project adopted an ethnographic research strategy to explore the role of in-cell television in prison (Knight 2016). The fieldwork took place in a single closed adult male prison in England over the period of 2008-2011.…”

Section: Overview Of Research Projectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Guilt encouraged me to ensure that I handled participants' narratives responsibly. For example, I took the decision not to name the prison in the study and referred to it as 'HMP X' in both my thesis and subsequent book (Knight 2016). This decision was made as a result of two factors; prison staff are particularly identifiable because of the roles they undertake.…”

Section: Responding To Our Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Everyday life in prison is strictly regimented and routinised and operationally, prisons run like clockwork. Modern prisons, however, lock prisoners in their cells for long periods of time and many experience boredom almost daily (Knight 2016). In contrast, my life situation was busy, full, chaotic and at times stressful.…”

Section: Envy -Where Lives Collidementioning

confidence: 99%

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Embracing the emotional turn: responding to researchers’ emotions

Knight

Zempi

2020

Emotions and Society

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This article examines the role of researchers’ emotions when researching sensitive topics. Drawing on two different ethnographic research projects, experiences of imprisonment and hate crime victimisation, respectively, we reflect on the important role that our emotions occupied within the research context. Within the framework of sociology of emotions, we discuss our subjective experiences of qualitative research with prisoners and victims of hate crime. We actively celebrate the work by Bondi (2005) and offer an extended discussion on the value of using emotions as important methodological tools that should be used as part of the methodological and analytical process. We employ the concept of the ‘emotional turn’ to emphasise the importance of researcher emotions in ethnographic work, and the value of those emotions in guiding methodological and ethical decision making. Specifically, we use envy, guilt and shame – three key emotions that we both experienced and utilised throughout our independently conducted research projects – to illustrate how and why emotions are important for guiding decision making in research. The particular emotions centred here (envy, guilt, and shame) are not tied to hard-to-reach groups or sensitive topics; rather, emotionally engaged research is important as all researchers need to understand how their emotions could/should shape their methodological choices. The article concludes by assessing the value and challenges of embracing the emotional turn, and offers some methodological guidance for future researchers. Within this we raise important questions about the universality of emotions experienced during research. We tentatively conclude that research work does trigger shared emotive responses.

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Section: Responding To Our Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Overview Of Research Projectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Responding To Our Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Envy -Where Lives Collidementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Embracing the emotional turn: responding to researchers’ emotions

Knight

Zempi

2020

Emotions and Society

Self Cite

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“…Social domain theory conceptualises social life as layered with multiple contexts that interact, bringing together psychological and sociological dimensions. Social domain theory was chosen because of its previous application in both prison research (Knight and Layder, 2016) and social work (Houston, 2015) and because during data collection and analysis, the interweaving by participants of the individual emotions and the wider context was so strong.…”

Section: Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overwhelmed and powerless: staff perspectives on mother – infant separations in English prisons

Powell

Ciclitira

Marzano

2020

JCP

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Purpose Imprisoned mothers are at increased risk for poor psychological health and psychological distress when separated from their children, so staff need to be highly skilled to support the women. However, there is a paucity of research focusing on staff experiences around sensitive issues such as mother–child separation. This study aims to understand the challenges faced by staff and how these might be addressed. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative interview study explored the views and experiences of 24 prison-based staff in England working with female prisoners separated from their infants. Findings Staff emphasised the challenges of working with separated mothers, specifically the emotional impact of this work, and the impact of the wider criminal justice system on their sense of agency. Originality/value A focus on the experience of separation highlights the broader problem of incarcerating women in general. Reducing the number of mother–child separations would mitigate the impact on both women and staff.

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Concept-Formation, Complexity and Social Domains: Investigating Emotion(S) in a Prison Setting

Cited by 2 publications

References 35 publications

Embracing the emotional turn: responding to researchers’ emotions

Embracing the emotional turn: responding to researchers’ emotions

Overwhelmed and powerless: staff perspectives on mother – infant separations in English prisons

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