Frictions, cracks and micro-resistances: physical activity and sport as strategies to dignify imprisoned women

ABSTRACT

In capitalist societies, where discipline and control are dominant concepts, prisons are a warning tool about the consequences of non-conformity. In this context, prisoners are exposed to a type of power that is used as a corrective technique to transform them into docile and useful citizens. However, such power is not static and inmates can create various strategies of resistance. The aim of this research is to understand how physical activity and sport are used by incarcerated women to confront social control in Spanish prisons. Based on 16 interviews with former female inmates, we found that engaging in physical activity and sports helped participants to cope with their sentences. These activities were also used as tools to confront and negotiate the patriarchal punitive power often found in prisons, meaning that participants were not put down by it. Participants’ abilities to minimally destabilise the prison’s order also empowered them to regain some autonomy and identity. Through participating in physical activity and sports, incarcerated women created spaces of freedom and frictions within a limiting prohibitive prison environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Prison
• sport
• female
• resistance
• social control

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Statistics of the first week of January, 2018: http://www.institucionpenitenciaria.es/web/portal/documentos/estadisticas.html?r=s&asem=2018&msem=1&dsem=8&ts=GENE.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Basque Government [Grant number PRE_2014_1_297]

Notes on contributors

Nagore Martinez-Merino

Nagore Martinez-Merino is a PhD student in the Department of Sport and Physical Education at the Faculty of Education and Sport of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). She is trying to understand through qualitative methodologies the meanings of sport and physical activity for incarcerated women. She is also interested in the role of sport and physical activities with vulnerable populations.

Daniel Martos-Garcia

Daniel Martos-Garcia is a lecturer in the Faculty of Teacher Training at University of Valencia. His interests are on inclusion, critical pedagogies and narrative research.

Lorena Lozano-Sufrategui

Lorena Lozano-Sufrategui is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Activity, Exercise and Health at the Carnegie School of Sport in Leeds Beckett University. She uses qualitative methodologies to understand health behaviour change in hard-to-reach populations. She is also interested in understanding the role of sports clubs as settings for health promotion.

Nerian Martín-González

Nerian Martín-González is a PhD student in the Department of Sport and Physical Education at the Faculty of Education and Sport of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). She is exploring how different physical activities assisted in the development of interpersonal relationships and the self-construction of new identities for women prisoners.

Oidui Usabiaga

Oidui Usabiaga is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Sport (Department of Sport and Physical Education) at University of the Basque Coutry. His interests are on inclusion, traditional sports and qualitative research.