Food and penal legitimacy in women's prisons

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McCarthy, D, Garland, J, Adams, M, Power, E, Harman, V, Allen, J and Dadge, T (2025) Food and penal legitimacy in women's prisons. European Journal of Criminology, 23 (4). pp. 571-590. ISSN 1477-3708

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Abstract

Prison is a space of deprivation of liberty with multiple ‘pains of imprisonment’ inflicted on those serving time. One component of the prison experience seldom discussed is the impact of food, particularly the ways in which food communicates broader issues about penal legitimacy. Penal legitimacy – how the penal regime operates in ways which command authority and willingness to comply – has been understood through a multitude of prison regime elements, but rarely in the context of food. We reflect on the outcomes of these experiences and perceptions of food from the perspectives of women in prison, highlighting how these perceptions can impact on the legitimacy of the prison establishment and overall quality of life in prison. Data is drawn from fieldwork in four women's prisons in England, comprising 108 study participants.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Food; prison legitimacy; procedural justice; women's imprisonment; Food; prison legitimacy; procedural justice; women's imprisonment; 48 Law and Legal Studies; 4805 Legal Systems; 4402 Criminology; 44 Human Society; 1602 Criminology; 1801 Law; Criminology; 4402 Criminology; 4805 Legal systems
Subjects: K Law > K Law (General)
H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology > HV8301 Penology. Prisons. Corrections
Divisions: Law and Justice Studies
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date of acceptance: 16 July 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access: 14 September 2026
Date Deposited: 14 Sep 2026 14:54
Last Modified: 14 Sep 2026 14:54
DOI or ID number: 10.1177/14773708251365398
URI: https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29408
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