'Assaults upon the Self': Control and Surveillance in a Theological College

Training in a residential setting is a compulsory aspect of the professional preparation of those offering themselves for ordained ministry within the various denominations of Anglican Communion in the UK. This mode of preparation is seen as essential to an inculcation of the 'attitudes and habits' required of future occupational roles and status. The mode as well as the content of training can, therefore, be viewed as powerful facilitators of occupational socialisation and identity. The paper explores how residential training in one setting, through the timetable and 'gaze' of staff and other students, acts to regulate the body in preparation for the transition to an ordained status. The paper further outlines some of the means by which students conform to and contest this 'curriculum of the body'.