Humanizing prison ? An ethnography of French jails
type: Dataset
contact point: Organization
  fn: CCSD
keyword: ethnographie-de-la-prison
keyword: prison-ethnography
keyword: individualisation-des-peines
keyword: sentencing
keyword: sociologie-du-droit
keyword: theses
keyword: criminal-law
keyword: infoeu-reposemanticsdoctoralthesis
keyword: anthropologie-morale
keyword: shssociohumanities-and-social-sciencessociology
keyword: law-and-society
keyword: justice-penale
keyword: shsscipohumanities-and-social-sciencespolitical-science
keyword: prison-staff
keyword: moral-anthropology
keyword: professions-penitentiaires
keyword: discrimination
keyword: shsanthro-sehumanities-and-social-sciencessocial-anthropology-and-ethnology
keyword: inegalites-sociales
landing page: https://theses.hal.science/tel-00997760
description: While French jails are facing the double-bind of an increasing number of prisoners to manage efficiently, and pressures to humanize their treatment, the development of judicial procedures and the role of legal professionals in the daily functioning of the prison changes practices of custody. Through the ethnographic survey of two jails (observations and interviews with prisoners, staff, parole judges, lawyers, etc.), the dissertation contributes to a sociology of institutions and of law in action. It investigates the often contradictory aspects of law in prison : a tool of mass management and of individualization of sentences ; an expression of the coercive power and a guarantee of the rights of the administration's subjects ; a neoliberal framing of reentry and a fundamental reference to human dignity. The outline follows the prisoner's trajectory and various moments of his evaluation (intake, disciplinary hearings, parole boards) : these practical uses of law are embedded into interactions between agents of the institution and their clients (men, mostly young, from lower socio-economic backgrounds and belonging to racial minorities). Multiple professional fields (custody, the judicial, the social) are involved, but also moral feelings pertaining to how notions like dangerousness, responsibility or vulnerability are framed in the public sphere. Circulating between different scales (the local jail, the prison administration, public policies) this research offers, through the case study of prison, a contribution to an anthropology of the State.
issued: 2026-05-05T10:01:40.476454
language: fr
modified: 2026-05-05T10:01:40.476458

test_moissonnage_selune
type: Agent

Humanizing prison ? An ethnography of French jails
type: Distribution
access URL: https://theses.hal.science/tel-00997760
format: HTML
issued: 2026-05-05T10:01:40.491578
modified: 2026-05-05T10:01:40.458116