%0 Journal Article
%T ¡®Commensality¡¯ as a theatre for witnessing change for criminalised individuals working at a resettlement scheme
%A Julie M Parsons
%J European Journal of Probation
%@ 2066-2203
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/2066220318819239
%X This article draws on analysis of interview data from an exploratory case study at an independent ¡®offender¡¯ resettlement scheme in England, investigating the benefits or otherwise of commensality for criminalised individuals and the wider community who share a communal lunchtime meal. For prisoners released on temporary licence and others referred through probation, caught in the liminal space between criminal and civilian life, commensality enables social interaction with non-criminalised individuals in a social environment outside of the prison estate. It becomes an arena for the display of non-criminalised identities in preparation for release into the community after punishment. It is a useful tool for social integration that challenges stereotypical beliefs about criminalised individuals amongst the wider community. Moreover, commensality works as a theatre for the performance of non-criminalised identities, by promoting social inclusion and generativity, it is part of a process of desistance geared towards improving self-worth
%K Change
%K food
%K probation
%K prisoners
%K resettlement
%K sociability
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2066220318819239