Only one way to swim? The offence and the life course in accounts of adaptation to life imprisonment
Only one way to swim? The offence and the life course in accounts of adaptation to life imprisonment
Recent studies of long-term imprisonment describe a largely invariant pattern of prisoner adaptation. Using data from a qualitative study of men serving life sentences in England, I argue that adaptation may in fact vary more than these studies imply both because of the prisoner's age when sentenced and because of the circumstances of particular offences. Participants' engagement with the prison's rehabilitative 'offer' depended on how the sentence affected their life course and what they understood to be the moral ramifications of the offence. These findings refine understanding of adaptation and suggest that a renewed focus on moral reflexivity may bear fruit in future prison research.
indefinite imprisonment, life imprisonment, long-term imprisonment, moral reflection, murder, rehabilitation
1460-1479
Jarman, Ben
17792bef-9b37-408e-b734-acb707842715
November 2020
Jarman, Ben
17792bef-9b37-408e-b734-acb707842715
Jarman, Ben
(2020)
Only one way to swim? The offence and the life course in accounts of adaptation to life imprisonment.
British Journal of Criminology, 60 (6), .
(doi:10.1093/bjc/azaa036).
Abstract
Recent studies of long-term imprisonment describe a largely invariant pattern of prisoner adaptation. Using data from a qualitative study of men serving life sentences in England, I argue that adaptation may in fact vary more than these studies imply both because of the prisoner's age when sentenced and because of the circumstances of particular offences. Participants' engagement with the prison's rehabilitative 'offer' depended on how the sentence affected their life course and what they understood to be the moral ramifications of the offence. These findings refine understanding of adaptation and suggest that a renewed focus on moral reflexivity may bear fruit in future prison research.
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200416 full accepted manuscript
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e-pub ahead of print date: 4 May 2020
Published date: November 2020
Keywords:
indefinite imprisonment, life imprisonment, long-term imprisonment, moral reflection, murder, rehabilitation
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Local EPrints ID: 496250
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/496250
ISSN: 0007-0955
PURE UUID: 13619a9c-9b81-45b6-8d04-52709a0d64d8
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Date deposited: 10 Dec 2024 17:31
Last modified: 14 Dec 2024 03:15
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Author:
Ben Jarman
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