BODY AS A PROJECT: THE RELATIONSHIP CZECH PRISONERS HAVE TO THEIR BODIES

• Authors: Dirga Lukáš
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The text focuses on the relationship inmates have to their bodies during imprisonment. The data presented in this study are based on ethnographic research carried out in Czech men's high security prisons. The data set consists of interviews with partakers from the “world of prisoners”, observations from prisons and analysis of documents relating to Czech prison service. The analysis shows there is a strong relationship between the physical body and the process of constructing manhood/masculinity in the population of inmates. The physical body is one of crucial components of the masculine/macho prison code/culture. The attitude inmates have to their bodies seems to be altering, depending on the stage of imprisonment in which they currently are. For the description of this alteration the author uses the concept of the body as a project, which may serve as one of the possible ways of understanding the importance of the physical body to inmates during their imprisonment and changing motivations to its further development.

Keywords

EN

PRISON; CZECH REPUBLIC; BODY; INMATE; MASCULINITY; ETHNOGRAPHY

• Publisher: Institute of Sociology, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Sociológia (Sociology)
• Year: 2017
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 636 – 656

Contributors

author

Dirga Lukáš

• Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, Sedláčkova 15, 306 14 Plzeň, Czech Republic