Book review: Anastasia Chamberlen, Embodying Punishment: Emotions, Identities, and Lived Experiences in Women’s Prisons

Abstract

First paragraph: Sykes’ (1958) seminal work has inspired several scholars to explore the long-lasting effects and pains of imprisonment (see, for instance, Crewe, 2011; Liebling and Maruna, 2005). Sixty years after the publication of The Society of Captives, Chamberlen’s book gives voice to the punished bodies in order to comprehend the lived experience of imprisonment. This book provides a much-needed reflection on how imprisonment is experienced through the body and the effects it has on women’s lives and identities. By reflecting on the subjective understanding of women’s experiences in prisons, the author portrays punishment as an embodied and gendered experience. Indeed, the bodies are central as they ‘materially and physically sense and feel punishment’ (p. 56).