Julie Laursen
Biographic Data
| ID | 190934 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Julie Laursen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Julie |
| FAMILY NAME | Laursen |
| SIGNATURE | LAURSEN J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Copenhagen |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4812-710X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 29 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Soft resistance in prisons in England & Wales and Norway
The intimate presence of state power and the resentments and reactions produced by involuntary confinement mean that the conditions of imprisonment produce and expose various forms of resistance. The literature in this area has tended to focus on highly visible and spectacular episodes of resistance, or on acts that are subtle, disguised, or clandestine. This article seeks to theorise what we call ‘soft resistance’, practices that are expressed i…
Contrasts in freedom: Comparing the experiences of imprisonment in open and closed prisons in England and Wales and Norway
Open prisons are portrayed as less harmful custodial institutions than closed prisons, and prison systems that rely more heavily on low security imprisonment are typically considered to have a more humane and less punitive approach to punishment. However, few studies have systematically compared the subjective experiences of prisoners held in open and closed prisons, and no study has yet compared the role and function of open prisons across juris…
Comparing deep‐end confinement in England & Wales and Norway
Extreme forms of custody represent the boundary points of state power. The configuration of the most restrictive corners of prison systems, and what goes on within them, is highly instructive in exposing the objectives, limits, and implications of state coercion at its most severe. Based on data collected in England & Wales and Norway, this article has two main aims. The first is to explore the degree to which “deep‐end” confinement differs betwe…
Nordic Penal Exceptionalism: A Comparative, Empirical Analysis
Based on a survey administered in 13 prisons in England & Wales and Norway, as part of a research programme with explicitly comparative aims, this article seeks to address both the relative and absolute dimensions of the Nordic penal exceptionalism thesis. It outlines the consistently more positive results in Norway compared to England & Wales, explaining them primarily with reference to the former’s much higher quality and use of open prisons. A…
Loneliness in prison
At first glance, contemporary prisons are environments defined by an ‘enforced collective’ (Goffman, [1961] 1991) and prisoners are, if anything, plagued by ‘life en masse’ (Sykes, 1958), yet the depth and weight of loneliness in prison can be intense. Prisons are often associated with metaphors of loneliness, disruption and empty time, and, as Armstrong (2018) highlights, imprisonment is an exemplary symbol for being stuck in space and time. Bas…
Radical hope and processes of becoming: Examining short-term prisoners’ imagined futures in England & Wales and Norway
Prisoners’ hopes for a life without suffering—without causing and experiencing harm—are embedded in practices of ethical becoming and ideas of transcendence. These hopes are somehow both more banal and complex than the literature on hope generally suggests; they emerge because of lack and are signs of despair, rather than realistic prospects or opportunities. Based on longitudinal interview data ( N = 452) with short-term prisoners in Norway and …
It’s Like a Sentence Before the Sentence’—Exploring the Pains and Possibilities of Waiting for Imprisonment
This article explores the implications of the ‘imprisonment queue’ in Norway. Based on interview data (N = 200), we show that while interviewees waiting to serve their sentences enjoy certain benefits such as being able to prepare for or negotiate the terms of their imprisonment, they also suffer from uncertainty and powerlessness. The suspension of their lives while they wait hinders them in pursuing their ground projects, things that really mat…
Altering Violent Repertoires: Perspectives on Violence in the Prison-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Program Anger Management
Based on ethnographic research in three Danish prisons, this article explores meanings of violence among prisoners, as they are narrated in the context of the prison-based cognitive-behavioral program Anger Management. The empirical data shows that the prisoners' and instructors' perspectives and understandings of violence diverge in significant ways. We find that these discrepancies result in disputes and misunderstandings, where prisoners' expe…
Honour and respect in Danish prisons: Contesting ‘cognitive distortions’ in cognitive-behavioural programmes
Using empirical data from prison-based cognitive-behavioural programmes, this article considers how prisoners’ subcultural capital shapes their responses to demands for ‘cognitive self-change’. We argue that accounts of ‘respect’ in the prior literature fail to capture how prisoners react to these programmes, and that a discussion of honour (and what we term ‘respect plus’) needs to be incorporated. The empirical material derives from four differ…
Social Skills’: Following a Travelling Concept from American Academic Discourse to Contemporary Danish Welfare Institutions
(No) Laughing Allowed—Humour and the Limits of Soft Power in Prison
Although humour in prison is a widespread phenomenon, its meaning and function has not been examined in any detail. This article seeks to address this gap by analysing humour in prison-based cognitive behavioural programmes. The empirical data from fieldwork in three different programme settings illuminates how the participants actively disrupt and twist the power hierarchies by providing a kind of humorous meta-commentary on the simplicity and c…
Man Begynder Jo Ikke at Smadre en Købmand: Perspektiver på vold i vredeskontrolprogrammet 'Anger Management
Artiklens empiriske materiale stammer fra forfatterens feltarbejde fra 2013 og 2014 i et åbent og to lukkede danske fængsler, hvor hun deltog i tre programafviklinger af vredeskontrolprogrammet 'Anger Management' og foretog fokusgruppeinterview og enkeltinterviews med deltagere samt enkeltinterviews med instruktørerne. Artiklen knytter an til antropologisk voldsforskning ved at inddrage deltagernes perspektiver og positioneringer og fokusere på h…
Nordic Penal Exceptionalism: A Comparative, Empirical Analysis
Based on a survey administered in 13 prisons in England & Wales and Norway, as part of a research programme with explicitly comparative aims, this article seeks to address both the relative and absolute dimensions of the Nordic penal exceptionalism thesis. It outlines the consistently more positive results in Norway compared to England & Wales, explaining them primarily with reference to the former’s much higher quality and use of open prisons. A…
Comparing deep‐end confinement in England & Wales and Norway
Extreme forms of custody represent the boundary points of state power. The configuration of the most restrictive corners of prison systems, and what goes on within them, is highly instructive in exposing the objectives, limits, and implications of state coercion at its most severe. Based on data collected in England & Wales and Norway, this article has two main aims. The first is to explore the degree to which “deep‐end” confinement differs betwe…
Honour and respect in Danish prisons: Contesting ‘cognitive distortions’ in cognitive-behavioural programmes
Using empirical data from prison-based cognitive-behavioural programmes, this article considers how prisoners’ subcultural capital shapes their responses to demands for ‘cognitive self-change’. We argue that accounts of ‘respect’ in the prior literature fail to capture how prisoners react to these programmes, and that a discussion of honour (and what we term ‘respect plus’) needs to be incorporated. The empirical material derives from four differ…
Radical hope and processes of becoming: Examining short-term prisoners’ imagined futures in England & Wales and Norway
Prisoners’ hopes for a life without suffering—without causing and experiencing harm—are embedded in practices of ethical becoming and ideas of transcendence. These hopes are somehow both more banal and complex than the literature on hope generally suggests; they emerge because of lack and are signs of despair, rather than realistic prospects or opportunities. Based on longitudinal interview data ( N = 452) with short-term prisoners in Norway and …
Social Skills’: Following a Travelling Concept from American Academic Discourse to Contemporary Danish Welfare Institutions
It’s Like a Sentence Before the Sentence’—Exploring the Pains and Possibilities of Waiting for Imprisonment
This article explores the implications of the ‘imprisonment queue’ in Norway. Based on interview data (N = 200), we show that while interviewees waiting to serve their sentences enjoy certain benefits such as being able to prepare for or negotiate the terms of their imprisonment, they also suffer from uncertainty and powerlessness. The suspension of their lives while they wait hinders them in pursuing their ground projects, things that really mat…
Altering Violent Repertoires: Perspectives on Violence in the Prison-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Program Anger Management
Based on ethnographic research in three Danish prisons, this article explores meanings of violence among prisoners, as they are narrated in the context of the prison-based cognitive-behavioral program Anger Management. The empirical data shows that the prisoners' and instructors' perspectives and understandings of violence diverge in significant ways. We find that these discrepancies result in disputes and misunderstandings, where prisoners' expe…
Man Begynder Jo Ikke at Smadre en Købmand: Perspektiver på vold i vredeskontrolprogrammet 'Anger Management
Artiklens empiriske materiale stammer fra forfatterens feltarbejde fra 2013 og 2014 i et åbent og to lukkede danske fængsler, hvor hun deltog i tre programafviklinger af vredeskontrolprogrammet 'Anger Management' og foretog fokusgruppeinterview og enkeltinterviews med deltagere samt enkeltinterviews med instruktørerne. Artiklen knytter an til antropologisk voldsforskning ved at inddrage deltagernes perspektiver og positioneringer og fokusere på h…
Honour and respect in Danish prisons: Contesting ‘cognitive distortions’ in cognitive-behavioural programmes
Using empirical data from prison-based cognitive-behavioural programmes, this article considers how prisoners’ subcultural capital shapes their responses to demands for ‘cognitive self-change’. We argue that accounts of ‘respect’ in the prior literature fail to capture how prisoners react to these programmes, and that a discussion of honour (and what we term ‘respect plus’) needs to be incorporated. The empirical material derives from four differ…
Social Skills’: Following a Travelling Concept from American Academic Discourse to Contemporary Danish Welfare Institutions
(No) Laughing Allowed—Humour and the Limits of Soft Power in Prison
Although humour in prison is a widespread phenomenon, its meaning and function has not been examined in any detail. This article seeks to address this gap by analysing humour in prison-based cognitive behavioural programmes. The empirical data from fieldwork in three different programme settings illuminates how the participants actively disrupt and twist the power hierarchies by providing a kind of humorous meta-commentary on the simplicity and c…
It’s Like a Sentence Before the Sentence’—Exploring the Pains and Possibilities of Waiting for Imprisonment
This article explores the implications of the ‘imprisonment queue’ in Norway. Based on interview data (N = 200), we show that while interviewees waiting to serve their sentences enjoy certain benefits such as being able to prepare for or negotiate the terms of their imprisonment, they also suffer from uncertainty and powerlessness. The suspension of their lives while they wait hinders them in pursuing their ground projects, things that really mat…
Altering Violent Repertoires: Perspectives on Violence in the Prison-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Program Anger Management
Based on ethnographic research in three Danish prisons, this article explores meanings of violence among prisoners, as they are narrated in the context of the prison-based cognitive-behavioral program Anger Management. The empirical data shows that the prisoners' and instructors' perspectives and understandings of violence diverge in significant ways. We find that these discrepancies result in disputes and misunderstandings, where prisoners' expe…
Loneliness in prison
At first glance, contemporary prisons are environments defined by an ‘enforced collective’ (Goffman, [1961] 1991) and prisoners are, if anything, plagued by ‘life en masse’ (Sykes, 1958), yet the depth and weight of loneliness in prison can be intense. Prisons are often associated with metaphors of loneliness, disruption and empty time, and, as Armstrong (2018) highlights, imprisonment is an exemplary symbol for being stuck in space and time. Bas…
Radical hope and processes of becoming: Examining short-term prisoners’ imagined futures in England & Wales and Norway
Prisoners’ hopes for a life without suffering—without causing and experiencing harm—are embedded in practices of ethical becoming and ideas of transcendence. These hopes are somehow both more banal and complex than the literature on hope generally suggests; they emerge because of lack and are signs of despair, rather than realistic prospects or opportunities. Based on longitudinal interview data ( N = 452) with short-term prisoners in Norway and …
Contrasts in freedom: Comparing the experiences of imprisonment in open and closed prisons in England and Wales and Norway
Open prisons are portrayed as less harmful custodial institutions than closed prisons, and prison systems that rely more heavily on low security imprisonment are typically considered to have a more humane and less punitive approach to punishment. However, few studies have systematically compared the subjective experiences of prisoners held in open and closed prisons, and no study has yet compared the role and function of open prisons across juris…
Comparing deep‐end confinement in England & Wales and Norway
Extreme forms of custody represent the boundary points of state power. The configuration of the most restrictive corners of prison systems, and what goes on within them, is highly instructive in exposing the objectives, limits, and implications of state coercion at its most severe. Based on data collected in England & Wales and Norway, this article has two main aims. The first is to explore the degree to which “deep‐end” confinement differs betwe…
Nordic Penal Exceptionalism: A Comparative, Empirical Analysis
Based on a survey administered in 13 prisons in England & Wales and Norway, as part of a research programme with explicitly comparative aims, this article seeks to address both the relative and absolute dimensions of the Nordic penal exceptionalism thesis. It outlines the consistently more positive results in Norway compared to England & Wales, explaining them primarily with reference to the former’s much higher quality and use of open prisons. A…
Soft resistance in prisons in England & Wales and Norway
The intimate presence of state power and the resentments and reactions produced by involuntary confinement mean that the conditions of imprisonment produce and expose various forms of resistance. The literature in this area has tended to focus on highly visible and spectacular episodes of resistance, or on acts that are subtle, disguised, or clandestine. This article seeks to theorise what we call ‘soft resistance’, practices that are expressed i…
Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Criminology (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Law (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Prison (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (4 works) · Homelessness and Social Issues (4 works)