(No) laughing allowed-humour and the limits of soft power in prison
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(No) laughing allowed-humour and the limits of soft power in prison. / Laursen, Julie.
In: British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 57, No. 6, 01.11.2017, p. 1340-1358.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - (No) laughing allowed-humour and the limits of soft power in prison
AU - Laursen, Julie
PY - 2017/11/1
Y1 - 2017/11/1
N2 - Although humour in prison is a widespread phenomenon, its meaning and function has not been examined in any detail. This article seeks to address this gap by analysing humour in prisonbased cognitive behavioural programmes. The empirical data from fieldwork in three different programme settings illuminate how the participants actively disrupt and twist the power hierarchies by providing a kind of humorous meta-commentary on the simplicity and class bias of the course content. This article suggests that humour could be seen as a tool that enables prisoners to fend off the psychological and rhetorical power of the cognitive behavioural programmes, even if only briefly. By developing the concept of 'soft resistance' and analysing humour as friction and code-switching, this article aims to illustrate and discuss the limits of soft power in prison-based therapeutic settings.
AB - Although humour in prison is a widespread phenomenon, its meaning and function has not been examined in any detail. This article seeks to address this gap by analysing humour in prisonbased cognitive behavioural programmes. The empirical data from fieldwork in three different programme settings illuminate how the participants actively disrupt and twist the power hierarchies by providing a kind of humorous meta-commentary on the simplicity and class bias of the course content. This article suggests that humour could be seen as a tool that enables prisoners to fend off the psychological and rhetorical power of the cognitive behavioural programmes, even if only briefly. By developing the concept of 'soft resistance' and analysing humour as friction and code-switching, this article aims to illustrate and discuss the limits of soft power in prison-based therapeutic settings.
KW - Cognitive behavioural programmes
KW - Humour
KW - Prisons
KW - Soft power
KW - Soft resistance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85037606590&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/bjc/azw064
DO - 10.1093/bjc/azw064
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85037606590
VL - 57
SP - 1340
EP - 1358
JO - British Journal of Criminology
JF - British Journal of Criminology
SN - 0007-0955
IS - 6
ER -
ID: 256221622