Carceral Kinship: Black Correctional Officers (COs) and the (Im)possibility of Care in Prison

Abstract

While the origins and enduring socio-spatial consequences of mass incarceration have been well studied in geography and allied social science disciplines, a subsequent increase in the recruitment of Black correctional officers (COs) has garnered less attention. In this paper, I address this gap in the literature through life (occupational) history interviews with Black Correctional Officers (COs) whose day-to-day work sheds light on macro- and meso-scale processes currently at the heart of carceral geographic inquiry. Their unique experiences and perspectives matter because they highlight the hidden intricacies of prison spaces that produce institutional control through the raced and gendered practice of care work. Drawing on Katherine McKittrick’s work, my research process and findings contend with not only the content of these interviews but also the embodied experience of ‘witnessing’ pain, deepening analytics of trauma and representation that are central to Black Studies and Black Geographies. My research suggests that scholars must take creative methodological approaches to examine how individuals navigate specific hidden spaces like prisons, as these institutions are foundational to the global construction of place.