COVID-19 and the New Pains of Imprisonment

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic upended life worldwide, prisons gained attention as epicentres for the virus. The focus was primarily on infections and death rates, often omitting the impact on incarcerated people. This study draws on semi-structured interviews (n = 58) with men imprisoned throughout the pandemic. Using and extending classic and contemporary theorizations of ‘the pains of imprisonment’, we find that official pandemic responses meant that (1) new, pandemic-related pains developed, (2) established pains changed in severity and took new manifestations, and (3) pains were experienced simultaneously and interactively. Thus, the pandemic amplified, diversified and compounded the pains of imprisonment. While most visible in the context of a large-scale crisis, these concepts provide an expanded, broadly applicable framing for future carceral scholarship.