Captive in cycles of invisibility? Prisoners’ work for the private sector

Pandeli, Jenna; Marinetto, Michael; Jenkins, Jean

Abstract

© The Author(s) 2018. This article critiques a case of modern prison-labour by exploring prisoners’ attitudes towards the prison-work they undertake while incarcerated. The study is based at a privatised male prison in the UK, assigned the pseudonym ‘Bridgeville’. Bridgeville contracts with private-sector firms in providing market-focused prison-work – so-called real work – for inmates in some of its workshops. In exploring prisoners’ perceptions of this privatised prison-work, it is found that it mainly comprises mundane, low-skilled activities typical of informalised, poor-quality jobs that are socially, legally and economically devalued and categorised as forms of ‘invisible work’. At Bridgeville, such privatised prison-work largely fails in engaging or upskilling inmates, leaving them pessimistic about its value as preparation for employment post-release. Its rehabilitative credentials are therefore questioned. The article contributes to the debate around invisible work more generally by problematising this example of excluded work and the cycle of disadvantage that underpins it.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 24, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jun 21, 2018
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jul 12, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 13, 2018
• Journal: Work, Employment and Society
• Print ISSN: 0950-0170
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-8722
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 596-612
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018777712
• Keywords: ethnography, invisible work, prison, prison-work, rehabilitation
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/866291
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018777712
• Related Public URLs: http://journals.sagepub.com.ezproxy.uwe.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1177/0950017018777712
• Additional Information: Additional Information : © 2018. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications
• Contract Date: Jul 12, 2018