Źródła i formy kontaktów z bliskimi mężczyzn odbywających karę pozbawienia wolności

Social support is essential for mental and physical health and plays an important role in reducing the risk of returning to prison. The main sources of prisoners’ social support are relatives with whom they have the right to communicate using a variety of forms. The frequency of contact depends on the type of prison. However, little research examines prisoners’ communication with their relatives. The study was conducted on 478 men between the ages of 16 and 68 (M = 35,2; SD = 9,7), who were serving a prison sentence in one of five penitentiary facilities. The analysis revealed that the majority of incarcerated men had contact with their relatives, usually in a form of phone calls. The majority of them had contact with a mother. The study also demonstrated that the percentage of contacts with relatives decreased with age and time spent in prison.

Nonconsensual Sexual Experience Histories of Incarcerated Men: A Mixed Methods Approach

Nonconsensual sexual experiences (NSEs) may contribute to mental health concerns among incarcerated individuals, yet NSEs are understudied in this population. This study takes a novel approach in examining the prevalence of NSEs among incarcerated males by utilizing both quantitative and qualitative measures. The sample consisted of 189 men from three provincial maximum-security prisons in Ontario, Canada. Based on quantitative findings, 44.2% of the sample experienced NSEs before the age of 18, and 41.7% of the sample endorsed an experience that fit the legal definition of a NSEs as adults. Participants also responded to a qualitative open-ended question about their history of NSEs. Based on qualitative findings, a total of 23% of the men reported at least one incident of a NSE (e.g., child and adult). Based Findings highlight the high prevalence of NSEs among incarcerated men with quantitative responses demonstrating how the use of a behavioral questionnaire may, to some extent, correct for underreporting of NSEs. Qualitative responses illustrate the lived experience of incarcerated men and provide a deeper understanding of their NSEs. Responses also speak to the lack of resources and support available to these men. Findings underscore the need for proactive approaches in meeting mental health needs of incarcerated men in general and with regard to NSEs in particular. Results may inform the development of future correctional procedures (i.e., intake protocols that account for men with NSEs) and resources to support incarcerated men in navigating the psychological impact of non-consensual sexual experiences.

Navigating post-prison life. Social positioning and agency in unstable circumstances

People that are released from prison experience 'life outside' as unpredictable and insecure. They are faced with stigmatization, poverty and feelings of alienation from the 'world outside.' Based on ethnographic research in the field of post-prison life, this paper asks how formerly incarcerated men act and position themselves within and around uncertain circumstances that characterize post-prison life. The paper introduces the concept of 'social navigation' as an epistemological tool for approaching post-prison life ethnographically. In doing so, it shows the potential of the concept of social navigation in understanding actor's social positioning and agency within unstable sociocultural landscapes and within a disrupted sociocultural order.

“Not Anybody can be a Dad”: The Intergenerational Transmission of Masculinity Among Incarcerated Men

Despite an important and burgeoning literature correcting oversimplified portrayals of incarcerated men as “hypermasculine” and aggressive, research on men’s prison masculinities has not yet been sufficiently incorporated into prison treatment and therapy programs. In this article, we draw on in-depth interviews with 28 incarcerated men to explore the intergenerational transmission of masculinity in the family setting, highlighting how incarcerated men adapt, modify, and/or challenge the masculinity scripts they inherited from their fathers (or father figures) when reflecting on their own attitudes toward fatherhood. We use these insights to advocate for gender-responsive feminist family therapy that incorporates incarcerated men’s constructions of masculinity in efforts to restore and strengthen these men’s familial ties.

Dante, fatherhood, and starvation behind bars

This article documents the responses of incarcerated men to Dante’s story of Ugolino in canto 33 of Inferno. Reading Dante’s poem in prison theater workshops the men are inspired to write about the ways in which their own children, like Ugolino’s, have suffered because of the incarceration of their father. Interweaving fragments of Dante’s text into their stories the incarcerated readers generate narratives that explore the multiple meanings of starvation. While Ugolino’s children die starving for food, the children of incarcerated fathers are starving for love, family, and community. Like the majority of men in American prisons the participants in these Dante theater workshops are people of color and their writing highlights the impact of mass incarceration on black and brown communities in America at the same time that it demonstrates the continuing relevance of Dante’s poem to readers confronting issues related to justice and its absence in the twenty-first century.