Re‐‘homing’ the ex‐offender: constructing a ‘prisoner dyspora'

Abstract

Recent work within and beyond the geography discipline has come to understand that where might be imagined a sharp boundary between the ‘hidden’ inside and outside of prisons, there is in fact a myriad of materials that cleave and bind penal geographies that mark the prison wall as a site of transaction and exchange. Recidivism in the UK is of serious concern, rendering the ‘prisoner’ a participant of a very unique and dynamic type of border exchange. In light of this, this paper questions how this impacts prisoners' identities and attachments to ‘home’. Although ex‐offenders may idealise a return to the communities where they lived prior to incarceration, the ability to re‐integrate is often limited. This may be attributed to the transformations that individuals undergo while spending time in prison, such as the possession of a criminal record. In grounding this discussion in the case of a company that employs ‘ex‐offenders’, I examine the implications of belonging to such a group of ‘conventional employees’ and ‘those with criminal records’; revealing tensions that complicate matters of belonging. This paper therefore posits the prison as a kind of ‘homeland’ that continues to significantly shape one's identity following their out‐migration. Those leaving prison find themselves unable to display conventional attachments to the outside society, while performing a dystopian relationship with the prison homeland, allowing for a consideration of what I have termed the ‘prisoner dyspora’.

Rethinking mobility in criminology: Beyond horizontal mobilities of prisoner transportation

“…In contemporary studies of carceral settings, geographic interventions have sought to explore the multiple spaces, times and experiences encapsulated before, during and after detention, confinement, imprisonment and captivity (see Conlon, 2011;Loyd et al, 4 2012; Martin and Mitchelson, 2009;Moran, 2015;Pallot, 2005Pallot, , 2007Turner, 2012Turner, , 2013aTurner, , 2013b. Whilst mobility features in this pivotal work, approaches are centred on the predominantly fixed geographies of the prison and limited mobility (or immobility) of subjects therein.…”

Between crime and colony: interrogating (im)mobilities aboard the convict ship

“…Carceral geographies seek to explore the various spatialities, temporalities, experiences and politics of detention, confinement, rehabilitation and reform (see Bonds 2013;Conlon 2011;Conlon and Gill 2013;Loyd, Mitchelson and Burridge 2012;Martin and Mitchelson 2009;Moran 2012aMoran , 2012bMoran 2013a;Pallot 2005;Pallot 2007;Turner 2012Turner , 2013aTurner , 2013bTurner , 2013c. Under such an umbrella, scholars have examined spaces of incarceration through concepts of 'liminal' place (Moran 2013a); 'peripheral' space (Moran, Pallot and Piacentini 2011;Pallot 2005); via the space-time dimensions of carceral experience (Mountz 2011); and relations between the 'inside' and 'outside' (Turner 2013b).…”

“…In recent years, the sub-field of carceral geography has been rapidly expanding, taking seriously the temporal and spatial relations inherent within spaces of detention, confinement and imprisonment, past and present (see Bonds 2013;Conlon 2011;Conlon and Gill 2013;Loyd, Mitchelson and Burridge 2012;Martin and Mitchelson 2009;Moran 2012aMoran , 2012bMoran 2013a;Mountz 2011;Mountz, Coddington, Tina Catania and Loyd 2012;Pallot 2005;Pallot 2007;Turner 2012Turner , 2013aTurner , 2013b. However, as part of this growing interest, Moran, Piacentini and Pallot (2012) have argued that geographers exploring a range of incarcerated experience, from those of prisoners to asylum seekers (see Gill 2009), have largely failed to take seriously the role of mobilities.…”

Expanding carceral geographies: challenging mass incarceration and creating a "community orientation" towards juvenile delinquency

“…Geographers of rural prison buildings, immigrant detention, and the austere spaces of imprisonment have noted the ways that issues of race and class permeate incarceration expansion and resistance (Bonds, 2009;Gilmore, 2007;Martin and Mitchelson, 2009). Geographers concerned with the imprisonment experience have shown how movement, familial social relations, and peer relationships, to name a few, are impacted by imprisonment (Dolovich, 2012;Moran et al, 2012;Turner, 2013). Finally, geographers have critically noted how the modalities of government and redistribution are impacted by the census counting of prisoners, by funding relations between local and state actors, and by the constraints of capitalism and the free market (Hamsher, 2005;Gilmore, 1999;Peck and Theodore, 2008;Theodore et al, 2006).…”

“…Carceral spaces are not limited to the prison and immigrant detention, though, and, as geographers have noted, the practice of incarceration does not end at the boundaries of the prison (Gilmore, 2007;Moran, 2013;Turner, 2013). In addition, the threat of imprisonment, deportation, and other coercive state practices are institutionalized throughout a range of state-centered social-control practices, which take place both in the prison but also through seemingly unrelated practices like state-funded housing (Coutin, 2010;Wacquant, 2008).…”