Time and the Prison Experience [1]

Throughout the literature on time there has been an omission of the qualitativedimension of time in relation to the experience of time in different locales.This paper will explore the nature and role of time-use in prison. Based onintensive fieldwork in 8 male and female prison establishments, this articlewill explore the experiences of women and men aged 50 years and above, serving acustodial sentence and their relationship with time. The data draws from 90semi-structured interviews. The aim of this paper is firstly to landscape timeuse in prison. Secondly, to show how time in prison is negotiated by theprisoners and finally, examine how outside time becomes more real as thetransition from a closed to an open prison becomes more imminent.