A Foucauldian disciplinary theorisation of inmate education in the Second Chance Schools in Greek prisons: A case study

Abstract

The objective of this paper, which makes use of the concepts of power and discipline from Michel Foucault’s theoretical framework, is the investigation of the impact that the manner of operation of a Second Chance School (SCS) has on the disciplinary work of a prison in Greece. The research was carried out using semi-structured interviews with the learners in the SCS and with those responsible for education in the particular prison. The main findings of the research revealed that the working of the SCS made a positive contribution to the disciplinary work of the prison, which was ensured through the application of a range of disciplinary techniques and mechanisms. In addition, the disciplinary mechanisms that were implemented were the hierarchical surveillance of the learners through the ‘gaze’ of the teachers, the maintenance of an attendance register, the existence of camera and a guard outside the space of the classrooms, as well as the disciplinary examination of the learners.

Keywords:

• Second Chance Schools
• prison
• power
• discipline

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Recommendation R (89) 12 was made to the governments of the member states of the Council of Europe and among other matter it states ‘All prisoners shall have access to education, which is envisaged as consisting of classroom subjects, vocational education and library facilities’ (Council of Europe 1990, p. 4).

2 It concerns the following SCS (General Secretariat for Lifelong Learning 2013, Second Chance School, Korydallos Prison n.d. ) in: Korydallos Prison (established in 2005), Thessalonika Prison (established in 2006), at Eleona Thebes (established in 2008), Domoko prison (established in 2008), Trikala prison (established in 2008), General Prison of Grevena (established in 2010) and the annex of the SCS Patras in the Patras Prison (established in 2009).

3 This fact conflicts with the chief principle of operation of the SCS according to which ‘all the social spaces in which there is knowledge and accumulated experience, such as the place of work, social gathering, artistic creation, cultural events and so on should be made use of’ (Chapter A, article 3, Government Gazette, B 1861/08-07-2014).