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UK funding (£236,996): Mass decarceration: A critical social history Ukri1 Jun 2022 UK Research and Innovation, United Kingdom
Overview
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Mass decarceration: A critical social history
| Abstract | Why do societies punish as they do? And why do these systems of punishment change, sometimes dramatically? This study explores these theoretical and historical questions by pursuing an original perspective, examining the mass decarceration of women in the Republic of Ireland between 1970-1998. In 1950s Ireland, Magdalene Laundries and Mother and Baby Homes were part of a penal system that held over 1% of the Irish population, a staggering rate that outstrips even such outliers as Stalinist Russia and the current rate of mass incarceration in the United States (O'Sullivan and O'Donnell 2007). Based on the 1951 census data, for every 100,000 men in Ireland 37 were in prison, while for every 100,000 women 193 were contained at a Laundry or Home. This research will study these sites between 1970-1998. This is because the numbers of women in these institutions began to wane dramatically from the 1970s, with the last site closing in 1998. The history of the decline of these institutions has not yet been fully explored. While this is historical research, and more than 20 years has passed since the last site closed, this issue has returned to the political agenda, highlighting not only why we need this research, but why we need it now. This is therefore not an issue of historical injustice from a bygone era, but a serious social matter that belongs to our present. How do we explain Ireland's carceral system in the last decades of the twentieth century, both its existence and demise? Current explanations favour top-down theories, stressing the end of Catholic control and economic changes (O'Donnell and O'Sullivan 2012; Inglis 1998). But questions remain. How did these structural transformations effect actual change in Ireland's penal system? Posed this way, this is a question of cultural and social history: how were these institutions experienced? How were they understood and justified? And how did deeply held views on deviance and the legitimacy of punishment alter between 1970-1998? What is missing are the accounts of people who experienced these institutions. The study will present an in-depth social history of punishment and mass decarceration in the Republic of Ireland by recovering the forgotten voices of those who experienced Laundries and Homes, both as inmates and staff. The project findings will also contribute broader theoretical knowledge to understanding the relationship between cultural change and penal transformation, an area which is under-developed in the sociology of punishment. Despite a growing acknowledgment of Ireland's punitive past, the accounts of those who experienced this confinement have been minimised and even censored. Currently, the Irish government is seeking to make any files that pertain to Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries' redress boards inaccessible for 75 years (ostensibly to protect anonymity). A history of the kind proposed here is therefore also important and timely and has wide contemporary relevance. By shining a light on Ireland's penal landscape, this study is also contributing to the politics of remembering. The research has four stages. During stage one an interdisciplinary literature review will be developed to map the economic trends, cultural currents and social landscape from 1970-1998. The historical research begins in stage two. This will involve archival research and oral history interviews with people who experienced Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries from the 1970s. During stage three a cultural sociology framework will be used to analyse the archival and interview data, providing the first grounded analysis of Ireland's expediated mass decarceration. Stage three runs almost concurrently with stage four. Working with willing participants, artists and producers, this project will provide a platform for forgotten voices, and contribute to the public and political conversation about Ireland's history of injustice by producing theatre and radio shows. |
| Category | Research Grant |
| Reference | ES/V007165/1 |
| Status | Active |
| Funded period start | 01/06/2022 |
| Funded period end | 30/08/2025 |
| Funded value | £236,996.00 |
| Source | https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FV007165%2F1 |
Participating Organisations
| University of Strathclyde |
The filing refers to a past date, and does not necessarily reflect the current state. The current state is available on the following page: University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
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