Race, Ethnicity and the Prison Community

This book draws on an in-depth ethnographic study to explore the meanings of race and ethnicity in prisoner culture within two Finnish male prisons. Set within the context of Finnish immigration, it provides an excellent backdrop for studying how a rapid growth in the number of foreign national prisoners alters the social environment in prisons. It builds on the sociological attempts to comprehend the nature of the prisoner community from the perspective of ethnicity and race which has gained growing attention since the 2000s. It explores how ethnic categories are formed in the prison space alongside discussing daily practices, individuals, conflicts and conflict-solving, discrimination, prisoner culture and hierarchy, and prison officers. It captures the consequences that ethnicity and race have on daily practices, equality, and safety in prison. This book shows how ethnic and racial categories are formed in social action and impact everyday life in prison, with the power to prisoner culture radically. It provides comparisons to other countries and offers insights into its unique ethnographic methodology.