Schultz William J, Ricciardelli Rosemary
Department of Sociology, MacEwan University, 6-398, City Centre Campus, 10700-104 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5H 2Y5, Canada.
School of Maritime Studies, Fisheries and Marine Institute at Memorial University of Newfoundland, 155 Ridge Road, St. John's, NL, A1C 5R3, Canada.
Br J Criminol. 2022 Nov 12;63(5):1237-1254. doi: 10.1093/bjc/azac088. eCollection 2023 Sep.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect prisons internationally. Existing research focuses on infection data, meaning we do not fully understand how COVID-19 shapes frontline prison dynamics. We draw on qualitative interviews with 21 Canadian federal correctional officers, exploring how the pandemic impacted prison management. Officers suggested inconsistent messaging around COVID-19 protocols reduced institutional and officers' self-legitimacy, fracturing trust relationships with incarcerated people. Furthermore, officers suggest that personal protective equipment such as gowns and face shields took on multiple meanings. We use Lévi-Strauss' floating signifier concept to analyse how individual definitions of 'safety' informed day-to-day prison routines. We conclude by arguing that legitimacy deficits and contested definitions of 'safety' will continue to create uncertainty, impacting prison operations going forward.
新冠疫情继续在国际上影响着监狱。现有研究聚焦于感染数据，这意味着我们并未完全理解新冠疫情如何塑造监狱一线的动态情况。我们对21名加拿大联邦惩教官员进行了定性访谈，探讨疫情如何影响监狱管理。官员们表示，围绕新冠疫情防控措施的信息不一致降低了机构和官员的自我合法性，破坏了与被监禁人员的信任关系。此外，官员们指出，防护服和面罩等个人防护装备具有多种含义。我们运用列维-斯特劳斯的浮动能指概念来分析“安全”的个体定义如何影响监狱的日常工作。我们最后指出，合法性不足以及对“安全”的争议性定义将继续制造不确定性，影响未来的监狱运作。
