Alumna Kate Herrity's, Sociology and Criminology 2014, new book tells the story of a year spent at a local men's prison exploring the social meaning of the soundscape and what that tells us about prison life.
The soundscape of prison life is that of constant clangs, bangs and jangles. What is the significance of this cacophonous din to those who live and work with it? This book tells the story of a year spent with a UK prison community, bringing its social world vividly to life for the first time through aural ethnography.
Kate Herrity’s sensory criminology challenges current thinking on how power is experienced by the imprisoned and the lasting effects of incarceration for all who spend time in these environments.
“Kate Herrity's research on the soundscape of prison life is one of the most vivid – or rather, resonant – new contributions to prison studies in many a long year. It refreshes our feel for what is involved in inhabiting that world as very few other studies have done. Our methods and our concepts for apprehending that reality can never be quite the same again.” Richard Sparks, University of Edinburgh.
The book is dedicated in the memory of Dr Richard Smith who was Kate's tutor and supervisor whilst studying at Holloway.
