TY - JOUR
T1 - “Bodies in the Building”
T2 - Incarceration’s Afterlife in a Reentry Housing Facility
AU - Purser, Gretchen
AU - Hamlin, Madeleine
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - In this article, we examine the experiences of formerly incarcerated individuals living in a brand-new reentry housing facility in Syracuse, New York, that we call “New Beginnings.” At this site, a select group of returning residents are placed in permanent supportive housing or shelter beds. In analyzing the experiences of residents, we borrow from Avery Gordon’s conception of “haunting” to explain the seething presence of the prison in a facility designed for its afterlife. We find that despite intensive service provision intended to help residents move on from their carceral pasts, New Beginnings reanimates the specter of the prison for its formerly incarcerated residents. Throughout, we present New Beginnings as an illustrative case study that demonstrates the blurriness of prison boundaries and the contradictions of contemporary reentry programs and policies.
AB - In this article, we examine the experiences of formerly incarcerated individuals living in a brand-new reentry housing facility in Syracuse, New York, that we call “New Beginnings.” At this site, a select group of returning residents are placed in permanent supportive housing or shelter beds. In analyzing the experiences of residents, we borrow from Avery Gordon’s conception of “haunting” to explain the seething presence of the prison in a facility designed for its afterlife. We find that despite intensive service provision intended to help residents move on from their carceral pasts, New Beginnings reanimates the specter of the prison for its formerly incarcerated residents. Throughout, we present New Beginnings as an illustrative case study that demonstrates the blurriness of prison boundaries and the contradictions of contemporary reentry programs and policies.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133288966&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85133288966&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1086/719858
DO - 10.1086/719858
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85133288966
SN - 0037-7961
VL - 96
SP - 169
EP - 195
JO - Social Service Review
JF - Social Service Review
IS - 2
ER -