Narrative Rehabilitation: Manifestation of Chinese and Western Reform Ideals and Practices

Abstract

The existing literature has shown that in Western penal systems there is often an official demand for narrative rehabilitation during treatment programs, and has criticized the requirement for a narrative change to correspond with the “judicial-correctional truth.” This study is based on participant observation in a male prison in mainland China. Through a comparative lens, this paper found that offenders in Western treatment programs are required to demonstrate a change in narrative identity that is immersed in details from their personal history and from judicial discourse, whereas the Chinese penal system scrutinizes individuality less and focuses more on adherence to a unified narrative form and structure. While both systems are concerned with social control and the legitimation of penal power, Chinese prisons are less concerned with cognitive specifics and more with overt behavioral compliance. Both practices of narrative rehabilitation may be insufficient in facilitating the complex needs of offenders to desist from reoffending.

Administrative Governance and Frontline Officers in the Chinese Prison System During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…All posts were posted anonymously in the first place, and there is no revelation of real locations as the officers are well aware of the need for anonymity. Zhang (2021) has been conducting fieldwork in the Chinese prison system for the past five years on a number of projects, developing long-term connections and a deep understanding of the system. Members of the Chinese criminal justice system are alert to the interests of those outside the system and typically try to present their best side; therefore, it is crucial that the researcher has spent a considerable amount of time doing participation observation inside to gain mutual trust and build validity to the data that is collected (Xin 2017;Xu et al 2013;Yuan 2018).…”

Producing exemplarity: Performance making in a Chinese prison

“…Over 1.7 million people are incarcerated in detention centres and prisons across China, making the penal system the largest institution for the education and discipline of adult deviates (Brief, 2020). Penal order is thus a reflection of the disciplinary side of social order maintenance in China (Zhang, 2020; Zhang, 2019; Wu and Vander Beken, 2018; Li, 2018). The Chinese prison system falls into the ‘official governance’ category according to Skarbek (2020)'s classification of prison order across different countries, and yet the type of governance that Chinese prison officials exercise is widely different to Nordic prisons which he used to illustrate official governed prison systems.…”

“…Each prison unit was assigned one virtue, and it was their task to devise a short play around these themes. Some of the stories performed included one about a kind prison officer helping a prisoner's family, a historical story about Chinese intellectuals, and a story of the emperor rewarding the faithful and punishing the cunning (Zhang, 2020). The staged performances were perceived as a great demonstration of the effectiveness of prison management as well as its contribution to the dominant political narratives, a reflection of the leadership capacity of B Prison.…”

Functions of background music among prisoners and staff in the Chinese prison workplace

“…Studies of Chinese prisons mostly focus on prisoner adaptation (Liu and Chui, 2014;Liu et al, 2020;Zhao et al, 2020), programme evaluation (An et al, 2019;Qiu et al, 2017;Yang et al, 2018;Zhao et al, 2019), staff attitudes (Jiang et al, 2018;Lambert et al, 2018aLambert et al, , 2018b, and prisoner-staff relationships (Cheng, 2019;Liu and Chui, 2016). There is little research on the cultural life inside Chinese prisons, and the only existing studies about performance-making inside are mostly focused on the political and administrative side of cultural life (Zhang 2021(Zhang , 2022. Is there any un-institutionalised prison cultural activity?…”