Prison occupation literature portrays an axiomatic image of the white male prison officer, which has a significant impact on mainstream society's perception of the people who work in prisons. This image of the prison employee inadvertently renders black women 'invisible' and places them on the margins of the organisation. This thesis takes a different approach to examining prison occupation by applying new and varied views of being black female prison employees, by combining intersectionality theory and organisational psychodynamics to explore the psychosocial experience of this group of staff. Their perspective as gendered and racialised subjects provides an insightful account of what it 'feels' like to be black, women, and employees in the British Prison Service. Intersectionality highlights the ways in which gender and race are socially constructed categories that interact and influence relational dynamics at the individual, group, and organisational level. Through the multiple, and sometimes complicated, intersections of race, gender, employee status and hierarchy, my analysis exposes organisational and interactional dimensions of power, privilege and oppression prevalent in participants' narratives. An organisational psychodynamic framework was applied to delve beneath the surface of interpersonal relationships and prison culture, to uncover the dynamic forces that block the free expression of gendered and racialised identity, and the acceptance and acknowledgment of difference.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:702430 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Thomas, Marcia Veronica |
| Publisher | Open University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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