Abstract

BRANDER, Francisca  and  SANHUEZA, Guillermo. The porosity of the neighbourhood-prison relationship: a case study of two Chilean prisons. Rev. Crim. [online]. 2023, vol.65, n.2, pp.9-22.  Epub Nov 12, 2023. ISSN 1794-3108.  https://doi.org/10.47741/17943108.480.

Prisons have attracted the attention of sociology for being an institution within society and, at the same time, behaving as a society in its own right, with its own codes and norms. Sykes called it a “society of captives”, as he assumes that the adaptation processes had to do with endogenous aspects of the prison itself and not with exogenous characteristics, such as the trajectories of the incarcerated persons or the neighbourhoods they come from. This research, carried out in two Chilean prisons using a qualitative methodology, analysed how roles are shaped among inmates, in order to explore the validity of Sykes’ findings. Our findings suggest that: (a) relationships between inmates are characterised by strong power asymmetries and (b) roles and functions are shaped by what happens in the neighbourhoods of origin, suggesting that in the 21st century, neighbourhood and prisonhave porous boundaries. Finally, we discuss the implications of this porosity for rethinking reintegration programmes.

Keywords : Prison; prisoner; case study; neighbourhood; connection; Chile; inmates.

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