The deprivation of certitude, legitimacy and hope: foreign national prisoners and the pains of imprisonment

Date

2016-07-01

Advisors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

ISSN

1748-8958

Volume Title

Publisher

Sage

Type

Article

Peer reviewed

Yes

Abstract

At the end of March 2015 there were 10,481 foreign nationals (defined as non-UK passport holders) held in prisons in England and Wales, representing 12 per cent of the overall prison population. The latest published figures from December 2014 also indicated that there were a further 394 immigration detainees also being held in various prisons, rather than Immigration Removal Centres, across England and Wales. Although Sykes’s deprivation model with its associated ‘pains of imprisonment’ has been exhaustively explored by penologists, this article argues that there are a new range of ‘pains’ uniquely faced by foreign national prisoners in England and Wales who come under the scrutiny of the Home Office’s Immigration Service. Drawing on quasi-ethnographic fieldwork in a Specialist Foreign National Prison, this article discusses the new pains relating to a lack of certitude, legitimacy and hope with regard to both their carceral and post-carceral lives.

Description

Keywords

Deprivations, Foreign National, Imprisonment, Pains, Prisoners, prisons

Citation

Warr, J. (2016) The deprivation of certitude, legitimacy and hope: foreign national prisoners and the pains of imprisonment. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 16 (3), pp. 301-318

Rights

Research Institute