What are you in for? The neglected role of the offence in prison sociology
What are you in for? The neglected role of the offence in prison sociology
Why have prison scholars so seldom discussed what people in prison think about their crimes? This article addresses a striking gap: the omission of the originating reason for incarceration—the offence—from sociological analyses of carceral life. We examine its past treatment in prison scholarship and argue for recentring it. Drawing on three case studies, we show how the offence actively shapes daily experience, institutional engagement, and social dynamics. Our framework explores how attention to the offence can illuminate what prisons are like, what they do through moral communication, and what they are for as sites of punishment. Our analysis suggests that attending to the offence can enrich our understanding of adaptation, compliance, and legitimacy, and more generally add to our understanding of imprisonment.
prison sociology, moral communication, punishment, prison ethnography, legitimacy, adaptation
Jarman, Ben
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Ievins, Alice
50877200-240e-4291-aab4-f2b8f372b082
Crewe, Ben
d5d8b0f0-6e1e-4163-86a4-4bb2286e4856
Jarman, Ben
17792bef-9b37-408e-b734-acb707842715
Ievins, Alice
50877200-240e-4291-aab4-f2b8f372b082
Crewe, Ben
d5d8b0f0-6e1e-4163-86a4-4bb2286e4856
Jarman, Ben, Ievins, Alice and Crewe, Ben
(2025)
What are you in for? The neglected role of the offence in prison sociology.
Incarceration.
(Submitted)
Abstract
Why have prison scholars so seldom discussed what people in prison think about their crimes? This article addresses a striking gap: the omission of the originating reason for incarceration—the offence—from sociological analyses of carceral life. We examine its past treatment in prison scholarship and argue for recentring it. Drawing on three case studies, we show how the offence actively shapes daily experience, institutional engagement, and social dynamics. Our framework explores how attention to the offence can illuminate what prisons are like, what they do through moral communication, and what they are for as sites of punishment. Our analysis suggests that attending to the offence can enrich our understanding of adaptation, compliance, and legitimacy, and more generally add to our understanding of imprisonment.
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2025-07-04 submitted manuscript
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2025-11-13 revised manuscript
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2025-12-19 re-revised manuscript
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More information
In preparation date: 4 July 2025
Submitted date: 13 November 2025
Keywords:
prison sociology, moral communication, punishment, prison ethnography, legitimacy, adaptation
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 507473
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/507473
ISSN: 2632-6663
PURE UUID: 217370b2-a2d7-4fdb-b21e-9cf1c9fefcb1
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Date deposited: 10 Dec 2025 17:34
Last modified: 20 Dec 2025 03:55
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Contributors
Author:
Ben Jarman
Author:
Alice Ievins
Author:
Ben Crewe
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