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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Frictions, cracks and micro-resistances: physical activity and sport as strategies to dignify imprisoned women
Nagore Martinez-merinoDaniel Martos-garciaLorena Lozano-sufrateguiNerian Martín-gonzálezOidui Usabiaga0000-0001-6649-58920000-0003-3283-75020000-0002-2596-6624subject
Health (social science)Social Psychologymedia_common.quotation_subject05 social sciencesPhysical Therapy Sports Therapy and RehabilitationPrisonContext (language use)030229 sport sciencesSociology of sportCriminology03 medical and health sciences0302 clinical medicineTotal institution0502 economics and businessFeminist epistemologySociologyEmpowerment050212 sport leisure & tourismSocial controlAutonomymedia_commondescription
Discipline and control are key concepts within industrial and capitalist societies. In this context, prisons are a warning tool about the consequences of non-conformity [Foucault, M., 1995. Discipline and Punish: The birth of Prison. NY: Vintage Books]. As a result, punitive power is used as a corrective technique to transform prisoners into docile and useful citizen. However, power in prison is no static and inmates can create various strategies of resistance. The aim of this research is to understand how physical activity and sport are used by incarcerated women to confront social control and negotiate power relations. Underpinned within a critical feminist epistemology, we interviewed 16 women about their prison sports experience. According to the interviewees, physical activity and sport helped them to cope with the sentence while it was a useful tool confronting and negotiating the patriarchal punitive power. The women pointed out that the prison did not fully subdue them. Also, they highlighted their abilities to minimally destabilize the prison order. This enabled them to regain some autonomy and identity, while opposing to the total institution. Engaging in physical practices enabled incarcerated women to create small spaces of freedom and frictions within a limiting a prohibitive prison environment
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-08-02 |