The contamination of personal space

Boundary construction in a prison environment

Bibliographic Data

ID8360929
AuthorsDavid Sibley (0000-0003-3951-8168, University of Leeds), Bettina Van Hoven (0000-0002-6800-8602, University of Groningen)
Year2009
Volume41
Issue2
Pages198-206
Publication date2009-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArea (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0004-0894 • E-ISSN: 1475-4762
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1475-4762.2008.00855.x
OpenAlexW2122253733
LanguageEN
Citations received44
References cited22

In this paper, inmates in dormitories in a prison in New Mexico, USA, talk about their everyday lives. We are particularly interested in the ways in which they think about space. Their principal concern appears to be the definition of personal space in an environment where boundaries are weak. The paper focuses on anxieties about contamination which serve to define real and imaginary spaces within the prison. Interpersonal relationships figure more in inmates’ observations than does the disciplinary regime and the material environment of the prison. We argue that this has important implications for understanding space–power relations in institutional settings

Boundary (topology) · Computer security · Criminology · Discipline · Interpersonal communication · Physics · Power (physics) · Principal (computer security) · Prison · Social science · Sociology · Space (punctuation) · Computer Science · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Homelessness and Social Issues · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Psychology

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