Bourdieu in the Women’s Prison Garden: Findings from Two Clinical Sociological Garden Interventions in the Carceral Field

Abstract

This paper presents preliminary findings from two prison horticulture intervention projects. Our project sites are located in a women’s community corrections facility in the U.S. Midwest and a women’s maximum-security prison in the Southeastern United States. These garden projects illustrate the importance of sociological theory and clinical sociological practice in the development of programs that will benefit incarcerated women who remain underserved and disenfranchised in U.S. society. We apply Bourdieu’s theories of capital to understand incarcerated women’s lived experiences. We find that clinical sociological prison gardens foster women’s rehabilitation and increase food security within incarcerated settings. They also are an important site of capital and skill-building for participants.