Sunday, March 30, 2008
JAIL
My subculture is "Women Behind Bars. " The field site I choose to observe was Clayton County Jail located at 9157 Tara Blvd in Jonesboro, Georgia. This jail houses men and women. As you enter the front of the jail area there is a very nice court house and right behind the court house is the jail. It looks like your average jail, with grey cement walls and little windows. You could see from the outside where the inmates had wriitten saying on their windows. As we entered ther jail house we had to go through alot of security and had to show ID. Unfortunately, we got there around the time that visting hours are over. So the inmate, which is my cousin, we could not get to interview. But the plus side was that i was able to interview an officer that worked at the jail. I was extremely nervous because i already knew that i was just going to get basic answers that were not going to be that detailed. I was able to find out that there are a total of 768 inmate cells. There are also about 2000 beds. I plan on going back to the jail sometime within the next week to get the interview with my cousin so i can get more details about what actually goes on behind bars. The whole experience overall was a great one. I really enjoyed learning about what is involved in this subculture.
List of Terminology
Inmate
pods
List of Terminology
Inmate
pods
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Prison Performing Arts
What makes this a good field site?
This is a good feild site because the author actually went to the prison and could observe what goes on into putting a play together with prisoners. This is also a good site because the prisoners could relate the different characters of the play to other people who werr in prison. The prison also had a mixture of races so the listener can get different points of view.
What observations does the author make that gives us a better understanding?
Straight from the beginning the author starts by describing the prison from when he first walked in. He describes what the prisoners are doing and even what tattoos they have. Also by listening to the actual prisoners recite the play it informs the reader just how diffcult it is to put a play like this together because the prisoners can barely pronounce the words. He also decribes that every prisoner must be stripe searched before entering the room and he also describes how the room looked and felt like. He said that it was extremely hot.
What interview techniques work to help us understand the subculture?
What are the norms and values of the subculture?
All the people that play the same person form together as a group and are often found hanging around each other. One of the norms that I also caught was that even though the prisoners are performing a play there are still levels of hiearchy as referred to by Derek "Big Hutch" Hutchinson. The prisoners value what they do because they are able to relate the play to real life situations. One prisoner describes how the director lady made them feel human even when they had to bend over butt naked and have someone look up their butt.
This is a good feild site because the author actually went to the prison and could observe what goes on into putting a play together with prisoners. This is also a good site because the prisoners could relate the different characters of the play to other people who werr in prison. The prison also had a mixture of races so the listener can get different points of view.
What observations does the author make that gives us a better understanding?
Straight from the beginning the author starts by describing the prison from when he first walked in. He describes what the prisoners are doing and even what tattoos they have. Also by listening to the actual prisoners recite the play it informs the reader just how diffcult it is to put a play like this together because the prisoners can barely pronounce the words. He also decribes that every prisoner must be stripe searched before entering the room and he also describes how the room looked and felt like. He said that it was extremely hot.
What interview techniques work to help us understand the subculture?
Not only interviewing the prisoners but also interviewing director and the assistant director give you a better understanding of exactly what the subculture entitles. Each of the prisoners interviewed gave you their personal feelings about the play and it helped me to understand more about prisoners performing this play. Big Hutch described how he felt in a way which the listener could relate to. He made the whole interview worth wild. The author is constently referring to what the outside world views prison as. Like when he talks about gays and straight people in prison.
What are the norms and values of the subculture?
All the people that play the same person form together as a group and are often found hanging around each other. One of the norms that I also caught was that even though the prisoners are performing a play there are still levels of hiearchy as referred to by Derek "Big Hutch" Hutchinson. The prisoners value what they do because they are able to relate the play to real life situations. One prisoner describes how the director lady made them feel human even when they had to bend over butt naked and have someone look up their butt.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Women Behind Bars
Topic: Women Behind Bars
Sources:
Huneven, Michelle. "Susanna Moore: Women Behind Bars." Prison life in The Big Girls (2007):
Rathbone, Cristina. A world apart : women, prison, and life behind bars / Cristina Rathbone.. New York: Random House, 2005.
Rubio, Tena. "Lockdown on Life: Stories from Women Behind Bars ." National Radio Project (2007):
Talvi, Salja. Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System. California: Seal Press (CA), 2007.
Young, Vernetta. Women behind bars : gender and race in US prisons / Vernetta D. Young, Rebecca Reviere.. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006.
Reflection: I choose "Lockdown on Life: Stories from Women Behind Bars” by Tena Rubio because I felt like it was the most interesting source that I found. This source was actual audio and video of real life women behind bars discussing their lives. I felt like this source would be the most useful because I would be able to quote different things from the women’s stories. This source was one in which I could listen to the women and actually hear the pain in their voice. This source really kept me interested and I actually wanted to keep learning more about women behind bars.
Sources:
Huneven, Michelle. "Susanna Moore: Women Behind Bars." Prison life in The Big Girls (2007):
Rathbone, Cristina. A world apart : women, prison, and life behind bars / Cristina Rathbone.. New York: Random House, 2005.
Rubio, Tena. "Lockdown on Life: Stories from Women Behind Bars ." National Radio Project (2007):
Talvi, Salja. Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System. California: Seal Press (CA), 2007.
Young, Vernetta. Women behind bars : gender and race in US prisons / Vernetta D. Young, Rebecca Reviere.. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006.
Reflection: I choose "Lockdown on Life: Stories from Women Behind Bars” by Tena Rubio because I felt like it was the most interesting source that I found. This source was actual audio and video of real life women behind bars discussing their lives. I felt like this source would be the most useful because I would be able to quote different things from the women’s stories. This source was one in which I could listen to the women and actually hear the pain in their voice. This source really kept me interested and I actually wanted to keep learning more about women behind bars.
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