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No. XLVI/2 (2024)
Articles

Why study the imprisoned middle class?

Po co badać więźniów z klasy średniej?

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  • Andrzej Uhl
Andrzej Uhl
University of Cambridge and St John's College

Published 2024-12-20

Keywords

  • middle-class prisoners,
  • prison sociology,
  • class,
  • importation,
  • deprivation,
  • rehabilitation
    • ...More
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Copyright (c) 2024 Andrzej Uhl

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

“Why study the imprisoned middle class? Po co badać więźniów z klasy średniej?” (2024) Archives of Criminology, (XLVI/2), pp. 181–196. doi:10.7420/AK2024.07.
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Abstract

This essay asks how consideration of middle-class prisoners can elucidate assumptions and blind spots of mainstream prison research. Prisoner experience has recently been studied at the intersection of gender, race, religion, citizenship and other categories. Nevertheless, nothing similar has been done with regard to socioeconomic status. Once an individual has crossed the threshold of a prison, his or her class is no longer of interest to a criminologist. As a result, it has been taken for granted that a prisoner is proletarian, and little attention has been paid to those who transition into the carceral world from a background of privilege. However, middle-class prisoners do exist, and considering their experiences can further our understanding of prison. For instance, the middle class’s adaptation to carceral settings could inform the perennial deprivation/importation debate or challenge the dominant notions of rehabilitation. The essay concludes with a case for broadening the research agenda.

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