%0 Journal Article
%T Altering Violent Repertoires: Perspectives on Violence in the Prison
%A Ann-Karina Henriksen
%A Julie Laursen
%J Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
%@ 1552-5414
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0891241618771153
%X Based on ethnographic research in three Danish prisons, this article explores meanings of violence among prisoners, as they are narrated in the context of the prison-based cognitive-behavioral program Anger Management. The empirical data shows that the prisoners¡¯ and instructors¡¯ perspectives and understandings of violence diverge in significant ways. We find that these discrepancies result in disputes and misunderstandings, where prisoners¡¯ experiences of violence are devalued and rendered illegitimate in a treatment context where violence is considered unacceptable and a result of faulty thinking. Drawing on anthropological theory on violence as contextual, trivialized, and embedded in narratives of self, we propose a framework that enables reflections on violence more attuned to the prisoners¡¯ own narratives and reasoning. Such nuanced understandings of violence could provide more durable ways of altering violent repertoires
%K violence
%K prisons
%K anger management
%K subjectivity
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0891241618771153