Paper short abstract:

Parole hearings were prisoners are examined in the perspective of being released are central sites of observation for a study of today’s conceptions of responsibility : in a context of uncertainty, risks and safeguards are being weighted both for the prisoner and for the institution.

Paper long abstract:

Adjusted sentences have been greatly developed in the past years to allow prisoners to finish their sentence outside prison and promote reinsertion in the community. As a result, parole hearings became an important part of prison routine. At the same time, the release of dangerous prisoners has been a leitmotiv of political discourse advocating for heightened security. How do judges weights injunctions for reinsertion and injunctions for security, in a context of uncertainty ? This contribution will examine the process of judging in its ritualized setting, the parole hearing, focusing on the most informal moments when the judge attempts at grasping confidence in an interview with the prisoner, trying not only to obtain objective and subjective information (about professional plans outside prison, or remorse about the crime committed) but also to provide some "moral education" to the prisoner.

The parole hearing will be studied in the organizational context of the prison (eligible files are selected by prison counselors prior the hearing) and in the broader political context where concern for security and concern for reinsertion collide.

This study is based on a year-long ethnography of two Parisian jails and aims at exploring institutions through routinized practices.