Re-imagining institutional spaces: the communitizing potential of leisure

Abstract

In this article, we critically examine an alternative to the theoretical concepts of dividing practices (Foucault, M. (1982). The subject and power. Critical Inquiry, 8,[777][778][779][780][781][782][783][784][785][786][787][788][789][790][791][792][793][794][795] and total institutions (Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books) by exploring the communitizing potential of long-term care facilities and prisons. In doing so, we highlight the possibility for meaningful leisure experiences to open these institutions to the broader community and foster a more inclusive vision of community. We believe that opportunities for leisure involvement can provide community members and those residing in institutions with the chance to come together in ways that are mutually enhancing; however, these opportunities have not yet been realized to an extent that will truly bring about authentic social change. We argue that a re-imagining of these spaces as sites for inclusive leisure experiences can foster much needed social support not only for citizens residing in institutions, but equally so for citizens living in the broader community.

Sport and Incarceration: Theoretical Considerations for Sport for Development Research

“…Building upon these findings, Norman and Andrews (2019, p. 462) found that prisoners' engagement with sport could facilitate stillness and mental escape, and in so doing help them "cope with the spatial and temporal restrictions placed upon them, both in their regular daily routine and in exceptional circumstances such as being confined to their cells during a lockdown." Research on leisure in prisons (Fortune & Whyte, 2011;Yuen, Arai, & Fortune, 2012), meanwhile, has highlighted the possibility for leisure activities to bring prisoners and community members together in a shared venture and, in so doing, increase the possibility for carceral spaces to "be reimagined as spaces that are vital for promoting commu-nity cohesion and increasing social acceptance" (Fortune & Whyte, 2011, p. 31).…”

Transforming Space? Spatial Implications of Yoga in Prisons and Other Carceral Sites

“…One way in which such carceral mobility is manifested is in regular visits by volunteers, who assist with the provision of recreational, spiritual, educational, or therapeutic programs to prisoners. In Canada's federal prison system, for example, over 6,000 community members volunteer with various prison programming (Correctional Service of Canada 2017) and research on leisure programs in women's federal prisons has suggested that volunteers can play a part in building prosocial relationships between community members and prisoners (Fortune and Whyte 2011).…”