Clothing makes the man: Impression management and prisoner reentry

Abstract

Building on the wealth of prisoner reentry scholarship focusing on the process of transitioning home, this article examines clothing and reentry, and the complex interplay of how clothing has meaning for both the wearer and the viewer during this process. Prisoner reintegration research demonstrates that former prisoners are in need of a multitude of items, yet the purpose of clothing as a function in impression management is rarely considered. This article contends that clothing plays an important role in mediating social interactions for men returning to the community. Drawing on ethnographic data from a two-year interdisciplinary project in Newark, New Jersey, we present empirical evidence that clothing supports substantial notions of identity and performance. Through the notion of liminality, we explore three typologies that reveal how clothing pertains to male performance and social practice: (1) loss of identity, (2) reclamation of identity, and (3) creation of identity. We find that clothing is a tool through which former prisoners are able to reengage with society as someone other than as a former prisoner.

The hopeful labour of begging – Homeless people’s struggles for a better life in Paris

“…A sense of belonging outside of the group of homeless people, of the ones who were assisted was important both for his feeling of self-worth (see also Lankenau, 1999), but in a second step also as a tactic. Below, I will further elaborate how Pascal and others managed to keep up a fac¸ade through the use of on the one hand clothes (Smiley and Middlemass, 2016) while on the other hand I will show how words, stories and narratives were the most important part of this labour. Pascal used the potential ambiguity of his own standing in relation to the group of donors as a way of hustling.…”

Challenging the ‘Social Death’ of Incarcerated People Through Storytelling and Advocacy

“…Unsurprisingly, the symbolic association with wearing a "prison jumpsuit/uniform," also forges a sense of "prisoner identity," often depicted in a negative light. The creation of these "prisoner identities" establishes certain personas and characteristics antithetic to the utility of prisoner rehabilitation and reformation (Smiley & Middlemass, 2016). The prisoner identity is often subjugated and associated with a cohort that is undeserving and detached from human values -as per social death outcomes for incarcerated people.…”

“Free but Still Walking the Yard”: Prisonization and the Problems of Reentry

“…In employment, Halushka (2016) finds released prisoners engaging reentry programs to try and cultivate a repertoire of dominant cultural capital, tailoring their dress and speech to strategically perform a version of the reformed self that corresponds with employer expectations. Similarly, Smiley and Middlemass (2016) find reentering prisoners using clothing as a tool of impression management to create an identity conducive to acceptance outside prison. Practices such as these and others are likely to produce further changes in the habitus and gradual adjustment.…”

“…Just as people learn and adapt the experience of imprisonment—transforming the habitus in the process—they change again after release as they respond to the dictates of new social fields. This can be seen, for example, in the way former prisoners practice new styles of dress, speech and body language to try to enter the labor market (Caputo-Levine 2013; Halushka 2016; Smiley and Middlemass 2016). While it is difficult to judge the long-term effect of these practices (Halushka 2016), I was able to observe some participants create basic changes in their ability to navigate social institutions outside prison.…”