ABSTRACT
The guruwa have been a central part of Dangaura Tharu communities for many years, with various edicts referring to the role as far back as 1807. Within the existing literature, their role was conventionally defined as faith healers/shamans/Tharu cultural leaders. However, with the increasing influence of 'western' medicine as embodied by the exponential growth of pharmacies across Nepal, the role of the guruwa in Dangaura Tharu communities has evolved. In this article, we draw on several data sources including PhD fieldwork and subsequent research in a kamaiya basti in Kailali District, Nepal. Additionally, several interviews were conducted with guruwa in several Districts in 2020, to understand the ways that the guruwa are responding to Covid-19. It emerges that the Covid-19 pandemic constitutes a challenge as well as an opportunity to place the stature of the guruwa in Dangaura Tharu communities. Through analyzing the changes to the role of the guruwa, we consider the ways in which interactions with modernity are experienced and given meaning within Dangaura Tharu communities. We also explore the ways in which local modernities are shaped by specific histories and [Tharu] cultural practices. Finally, we consider what the future might look like for the guruwa in Dangaura Tharu communities, and how this critical role in the lives of many Dangaura Tharu communities might further adapt and evolve in the future. Ultimately, we illustrate that the role of the guruwa is at once both 'traditional' and 'modern'. © 2022 Macalester College. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Times of crisis within prison settings either at a system-wide level during times of riots or during pandemics or at more personal levels during time in segregation can be particularly challenging times when the prison can feel more ‘total' than other times. Goffman's influential work outlines a particular interpretation of the parameters of the total institution, of which prisons were one manifestation. In the years following its publication, a wide range of research has sought to subvert the notion that prisons are total institutions, suggesting a greater permeability of contemporary prison walls. This article calls for a re-consideration of this dismissal, and a reconnection and critical engagement with Goffman's original parameters within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown. The lockdown in response to COVID-19 in prison settings has resulted in many prison jurisdictions rolling back many of the erosion of the prison looking and feeling like a total institution. Through the analysis of 19 letters received from 8 people in custody in one Scottish prison, there emerges a reframed and reconsidered permeability of prison walls. For the participants in this study, the experiences of the COVID-19 lockdown complicate much of the recent critique of the relevance of the total institution as a theoretical frame to analyse contemporary prisons. This article argues that by considering the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible to observe a more essential quality of contemporary imprisonment, obscured through decades of penal reform but one that emerges during times of crisis. © The Author(s) 2023.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the impact of COVID-19 in the Scottish Prison Estate. During the 2020 lockdown in prison in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all face-to-face research was paused. In response to this methodological challenge, a participatory correspondence methodology was designed, enabling project participants to influence the direction of this project through suggesting research questions. The main project findings relate to the analysis of ways in which the COVID-19 enhanced the pains of imprisonment for participants, exploring the challenges that the participants faced in relation to communication, feelings of heightened isolation and detachment from family, friends and the normal rhythms of life in prison. Analysis of the letters received as part of this study provides unique insights into the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic in custody has added an additional layer or enhancement to pre-pandemic pains of imprisonment, increasing the 'tightness' 'depth' and 'weight' of participants time in custody.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to foreground and analyse the views of people in custody about the management of the COVID-19 pandemic within the Scottish Prison Estate. The project is unique in using a correspondence participatory action methodology to engage with a group of people in custody at one Scottish prison. Design/methodology/approach: At the time of ethical approval (early April 2020), all face-to-face research projects facilitated by the Scottish Prison Service were paused. In response to these methodological challenges, a participatory correspondence methodology was designed to allow people in custody to influence the direction of this project by suggesting research questions and themes. Eight participants were selected due to previous participation in research projects at one Scottish prison. All participants were adult males and serving long-term sentences. After consent was given via post, eight letters were distributed to participants with questions about their COVID-19 experiences. Methodologically, this project illustrates the potential for correspondence methods to facilitate insights into life in custody during what emerges as a particularly challenging time. Findings: Participant suggested questions were used across six subsequent letters to elicit unique insights into the COVID-19 pandemic, of lockdown and subsequent easing of lockdown conditions in custody. The main project findings relate to challenges that the participants faced in relation to communication, feelings of heightened isolation and detachment from family, friends and the normal rhythms of life in prison. Analysis of letters provides unique insights into the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic in custody enhanced the pains of imprisonment, increasing the “tightness”, “depth” and “weight” of participants’ time in custody. Originality/value: This paper is methodologically, epistemologically and theoretically original in foregrounding the views of people in custody about the management of COVID-19 in prison and using a correspondence participatory action research method. The conclusion considers the extent to which views from what might be considered the bottom of hierarchies of power within prison settings are able to influence the direction of prison policy around the management of COVID-19 and future pandemics. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.