Criminologists are increasingly interested in how a variety of justice‐adjacent institutions scaffold surveillance and punishment in the U.S. criminal justice system. A relevant but understudied institution within the carceral state is that of religion. Drawing on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork inside a U.S. state women's prison, I interrogate how religion—predominately conservative and evangelical Protestantism—served dual purposes in light of carceral control. Religion offered redemptive narratives to counter punitive carceral narratives promulgated by the state. At the same time, this narrative shift from “flawed” to “faithful” prescribed particular forms of embodiment: avoiding fights and rejecting sexual relationships with women. These forms of Protestant embodiment aligned with carceral purposes, such that women who reprimanded others for breaching religious norms were simultaneously enforcing prison rules. Although rhetorically challenging official prison narratives on the meaning of incarceration, Protestant narratives in practice regulated women's emotional and sexual behaviors and fostered a system of informal surveillance among incarcerated women. These findings illuminate how organizational narratives are linked to individual action. More broadly, they suggest how an institution such as religion can undergird state authority within an intractable context of carceral control.

中文翻译：

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救赎和责备：监狱中妇女的宗教和患病控制在行动

犯罪学家对美国司法系统中各种司法机构如何支持监视和惩罚越来越感兴趣。在宗教国家内部，一个相关但未被研究的机构是宗教机构。我利用美国一家州立女子监狱内12个月的人种志田野调查，询问了宗教（主要是保守派和福音派新教）如何根据控制癌病的双重目的。宗教提供了救赎性叙事，以对抗国家颁布的惩罚性癌变叙事。同时，这种叙事方式从“有缺陷的”到“忠实的”规定了特定的体现形式：避免打架和拒绝与女性发生性关系。这些形式的新教教义体现为符合目的，这样，因违反宗教准则而谴责他人的妇女就同时执行了监狱规则。尽管对监禁的含义在口头上挑战官方监狱的叙述，但实际上，新教徒的叙述规范了妇女的情绪和性行为，并在被监禁的妇女中建立了非正式的监视系统。这些发现阐明了组织叙事如何与个人行动联系在一起。从更广泛的意义上讲，他们提出了诸如宗教之类的机构如何在顽固的大肠癌控制背景下加深国家权威。的情绪和性行为，并在被监禁的妇女中建立了非正式的监视系统。这些发现阐明了组织叙事如何与个人行动联系在一起。从更广泛的意义上讲，他们提出了诸如宗教之类的机构如何在顽固的大肠癌控制背景下加深国家权威。的情绪和性行为，并在被监禁的妇女中建立了非正式的监视系统。这些发现阐明了组织叙事如何与个人行动联系在一起。从更广泛的意义上讲，他们提出了诸如宗教之类的机构如何在顽固的大肠癌控制背景下加深国家权威。