Prisoners’ Round: Examining the Literature on Recreation and Exercise in Correctional Facilities

Abstract

Opposition to correctional recreation programs expresses safety concerns for staff and argues that removal of these programs enhances the retributive nature of prison and jail. Supporters cite the health benefits for inmates and incentive for better behavior within correctional facilities. Using academic sources and media articles, we found that the available empirical data support the use of these programs. However, public perception appears yet to be swayed by such evidence. Despite this opposition, we recommend that use of physical recreation and exercise programs in correctional facilities should continue to be used within a prescribed rewards system.

Rethinking Incarcerated Women's Leisure as Subjected to Coercive and Normative Prison Missions

“…Idleness is indeed understood as a source of vice and crime and is further discussed as a scourge for detained people, guards, and administrators (Batchelder and Pippert 2002;Martin and Kaledas 2010;Wiebe and Nesbitt 2000;Foucault 1975). Since time is experienced as unbearably long and painful in prison (Vacheret 2013), filling it with leisure could attenuate such hardships (Ambrose and Rosky 2013;Batchelder and Pippert 2002). Simply staying busy through leisure could reflect the middle ground between extremely positive and extremely negative leisure.…”

“…Leisure involvement does not empirically increase a prison's safety (Frey and Delaney 1996), yet many authors insist that individual benefits such as reducing tensions and violence can or should be leveraged to monitor and manage detained people (Batchelder and Pippert 2002;Bodin et al 2007;Walakafra-Wills 1983;Wiebe and Nesbitt 2000). Fitting leisure into an incentive system could facilitate detained people's collaboration (Ambrose and Rosky 2013;Bilderbeck, Farias, and Brazil 2014;Brosens 2019;Gallant, Sherry, and Nicholson 2015;Martin and Kaledas 2010;Sempé et al 2006). One review argues that leisure is intentionally deployed to camouflage coercive missions by controlling unruly prisoners or enforcing conformity through behavior contracts and incentive systems.…”

“…From a human rights or social justice perspective, these suspensions can be dismaying. However, leisure's status as a right in prison has often been contested; leisure may instead be a privilege (Ambrose and Rosky 2013;Hensley et al 2003;Lee 1996;Lippke 2003;Lucas, Fiche, and Concilio 2019;Todd 1995;Walakafra-Wills 1983). If leisure is a privilege rather than a right, it can easily be denied by surveillance staff or suspended by prison administrators for internal or external motives.…”

Rethinking Incarcerated Women's Leisure as Subjected to Coercive and Normative Prison Missions

“…Idleness is indeed understood as a source of vice and crime and is further discussed as a scourge for detained people, guards, and administrators (Foucault, 1975;Wiebe and Nesbitt, 2000;Batchelder and Pippert, 2002;Martin and Kaledas, 2010). Since time is experienced as unbearably long and painful in prison (Vacheret, 2013), filling it with leisure could attenuate such hardships (Batchelder and Pippert, 2002;Ambrose and Rosky, 2013). Simply staying busy through leisure could reflect the middle ground between extremely positive and extremely negative leisure.…”

“…From a human rights or social justice perspective, these suspensions can be dismaying. However, leisure's status as a right in prison has often been contested; leisure may instead be a privilege (Walakafra-Wills, 1983;Todd, 1995;Lee, 1996;Hensley et al, 2003;Lippke, 2003;Ambrose and Rosky, 2013;Lucas et al, 2019). If leisure is a privilege rather than a right, it can easily be denied by surveillance staff or suspended by prison administrators for internal or external motives.…”