The "left" and "right" arm of the prison: Prison work and the local legal culture of the penitentiary

Alessandro Maculan; Luca Sterchele

doi:10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1310

Authors

Alessandro Maculan Università degli Studi di Padova https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3209-7663
Luca Sterchele Università degli Studi di Padova https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1160-4347

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1310

Keywords:

legal culture, prison officer, healthcare professional, prison, ethnography, Italy

Abstract

This contribution aims to explore the tension between the juridical dimension of the prison system and the everyday practices that take place within it. The article focus on prison officers’ and health professionals’ legal culture, drawing from ethnographic researches made by the authors in 4 correctional facilities in Northern Italy. Prison officers’ and health professionals’ working practices can be representative of two ideal-typical patterns of prison staff's action, that we exemplified using the “right” and “left arm" metaphor. The empirical researches conducted by the authors, while highlighting differences and affinities between the two working styles, describe the mutual adaptation of both groups to the peculiarities of the “local legal culture” that characterizes the prison environment. Both groups, grafting within this local legal culture of the prison, contribute to reproducing the maintenance of order and the pursuit of security, which are the main aims of the prison itself.

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Author Biographies

Alessandro Maculan, Università degli Studi di Padova

Alessandro Maculan (University of Padova) is a PhD in Social Sciences: Interactions, Communication and Cultural Constructions at the University of Padua. He did researches and published articles about prison officers work and everyday life within carceral institutions, prison conditions in Europe and migrants’ criminalization processes. Ethnography and qualitative research methods are his main methodological references. E-mail address: alessandro-maculan@libero.it

Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA). University of Padua. Via M. Cesarotti 10/12 - 35123 Padova, Italy

Luca Sterchele, Università degli Studi di Padova

Luca Sterchele (University of Padova) is PhD in Social Sciences at the University of Padua. He did researches on prison cultures and mental health care in carceral settings, mainly using qualitative and ethno- graphic methodologies. He spent extended visiting periods in European universities such as the University of Edinburgh, the Open University and the Universitat de Barcelona. He presented his works in a number of national and international conferences and he published articles in different books and scientific journals.

Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA). University of Padua. Via M. Cesarotti 10/12 - 35123 Padova, Italy. Email address: luca.sterchele@phd.unipd.it

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