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The Influence of the Wider Social Context on the Construction of Young Prison Masculinities

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Young Men, Masculinities and Imprisonment

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

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Abstract

Chapter 4 is the first of five chapters that draw on empirical findings from the primary research conducted in Hydebank. Chapter 4 situates the formation of masculinities in NI’s wider socio-political environment. In doing so, it looks at how community-based issues permeated the prison walls, impacted young men’s prison experience, and contributed to the reconfiguration of masculinities in the prison. Four sections each examine a key community-based issue that shaped masculinities in Hydebank. The first discusses young men’s experiences of powerlessness and social marginalisation in communities in NI. The second focuses on the peer regulation of masculinity. It examines how the young men within this study were socialised into stoical expressions of masculinity and how these values were expressed in the prison setting. The third explores NI’s history of violent conflict and how this contributed to violent expressions of masculinity. The final section considers young men’s perspectives on paramilitary organisations, how they interacted with them in NI communities, and the impact of those interactions on young men’s masculinities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Original grammar used for all quotations from the page.

  2. 2.

    The number of fights was not one of the pre-determined interview questions. However, it was a topic of conversation on many occasions.

  3. 3.

    A “fair dig” (Ryan) was a fair fight: a one-on-one contest involving no others and without interference.

  4. 4.

    “Hoods” (Dee) are groups of young men that operate in a similar way to gangs (Hamill, 2011). Members are residents of one area or estate, after which they are often named: for example, the ‘Burl Road Hoods’ or ‘Bower [Estate] Hoods’.

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Murray, C. (2023). The Influence of the Wider Social Context on the Construction of Young Prison Masculinities. In: Young Men, Masculinities and Imprisonment. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33398-9_4

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