Orange-Collar Workers: An Ethnographic Study of Modern Prison Labour and the Involvement of Private Firms By Jenna Pandeli Management, Employment and Organisation Section of Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Cardiff University August 2015 DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed …………………………………………………………. (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of …………………………(insert MCh, Md, MPhil, PhD etc, as appropriate) Signed …………………………………………………………. (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. Signed …………………………………………………………. (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed …………………………………………………………. (candidate) Date ………………………… i Abstract Work routines are integral to prison life. One recent development, at the behest of the government, especially in privatised prisons, has been the contracting out of work by private companies to prison. This type of work is usually organised under the guise of rehabilitation, employability and skills development to help offenders enter the labour market upon release. This thesis aims to provide an insight into the experiences and everyday existence of what I term ‘orange-collar workers’ - prison inmates who carry out privately contracted work in a prison setting. The research uses an ethnographic approach to explore this phenomenon; forty semi structured interviews were conducted as well as participant and non-participant observation in a private prison, Bridgeville. The themes that developed through the fieldwork included boredom, unskilled work, humour, masculinity and hierarchical structures within the workshops. The discussion of these themes illustrates the mundanity, the lack of skill and the particular culture in the orange-collar workshops which is not conducive to rehabilitating prisoners as it does not acclimatise them to a real work environment. It is found that orange- collar work does very little in terms of rehabilitating prisoners. Instead, it merely provides them with the immediate benefit of keeping busy which is considered better than the alternative of being ‘locked up’. With regard to rehabilitation, the primary triumph of orange- collar work is preparing prisoners for low-skilled, low-paid work, dominated by hierarchical conflict, little autonomy and few prospects - the characteristics of the work most likely to greet them on release. This serves to reinforce their antipathy to the mainstream world of work and (coupled with their exposure to alternative avenues of earning money in criminality) only discourages many prisoners from entering legitimate employment. But prisoners admire the private firms who are utilising their labour. They respect the ability to make money by whatever means necessary and they see exploitation as part and parcel of economic success. ii Acknowledgements First I would like to thank the ESRC for the incredible funding opportunity that I was given. To my supervisory team: Dr Michael Marinetto, Dr Jean Jenkins and Dr Carl Cederstrom, I cannot thank you enough for the time and effort that you have all put in to helping me finish this PhD. Mike, you have put up with me since my undergraduate studies and I will never be able to put into words how grateful I am for your incredible ideas, constant support, brilliant boxset recommendations and, most importantly, your friendship. I would like to thank all the staff at Cardiff Business School, particularly colleagues in the MEO department, of which there are too many to name, who have been an incredible support to me throughout this whole process. So many members of staff have sat and listened to me present my research more times than I care to remember. They have shown a genuine interest and provided such valuable advice. I am also incredibly grateful for all the staff than enabled me to develop my teaching (which provided much needed financial support in the last year of the PhD!) I need to thank The B52’s (the amazing colleagues that I have shared an office with for the past 4 years) especially Chloe Tarrabain, my partner in crime for the whole of the PhD. You all made the PhD fun and always provided a safe haven to vent and scream. To all my family (especially The Pandeli Clan: Kay, Steve, Laura and Joe) and friends who have put up with me being a social recluse for so long, I am so happy that you stuck it out with me! I will never be able to repay my parents, Kay and Steve, for the unwavering support they have given me throughout my education and I would not have been able to start, never mind complete, this PhD without their encouragement. My most heartfelt thank you is to Anthony Brown. I will forever be indebted to you for everything you have done for me during this PhD. Your delirious belief in me has seen me to the finish line. You have supported me in every aspect of this PhD; you have been my sounding board, you have looked after me when it all felt like it was getting on top of me, and when I could no longer face my PhD, you read it from cover to cover without so much as a grumble. Clearly I picked a good’un. Finally, thank you to all the staff at ‘Bridgeville’ prison. Thank you to the prisoners who participated in this research; their cooperation and openness gave me a genuine insight into a world that I had never experienced, without them this PhD would not have been possible and I will be forever grateful for the kindness that so many of them showed me during my fieldwork. iii Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. iii Glossary of Colloquial terms used by Prisoners ....................................................................... xi 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Research Context ................................................................................................................ 2 1.3. Aims and Approach of the Research .................................................................................. 6 1.5. Research Contributions ....................................................................................................... 6 1.6. Chapter Breakdown ............................................................................................................ 7 2. BREAKING ROCKS: THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEBATES OF PRISON LABOUR 2.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 11 2.2. The Historical Development of Prison Labour ................................................................. 11 2.2.1. Prison Labour for Punishment ................................................................................... 11 2.2.2. A Gradual Move towards a Less Harsh Regime? ...................................................... 14 2.2.3. ‘Treatment and Training’ or Efficiency and Profit? .................................................. 16 2.2.4. 21st Century Prison Work: Show Me the Money ....................................................... 18 2.3. The Debates of Prison Work ............................................................................................. 19 2.3.1. The Benefits of Private Prison Labour....................................................................... 20 2.3.1.1. Prison Work and Recidivism .............................................................................. 21 2.3.1.2. Keeping Prisoners Occupied ............................................................................... 23 2.3.1.3. The Commercial Benefits of Prison Work.......................................................... 24 2.3.1.4. The Economic Benefits of Prison Work ............................................................. 24 2.3.2. The Pitfalls of Prison Labour ..................................................................................... 25 2.3.2.1. The Displacement of Free Workers .................................................................... 26 2.3.2.2. The Profit Motive: When the Bottom Line is prioritised .................................... 26 2.3.2.3. Working in Declining Industries ......................................................................... 27 2.3.2.4. Which Prisoners will be Chosen? ....................................................................... 28 iv 2.4. Concluding Remarks ......................................................................................................... 29 3. EMPIRICALLY EXPLORING PRISON LIFE AND PRISON LABOUR 3.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 31 3.2. Prison Life ........................................................................................................................