At first glance, contemporary prisons are environments defined by an ‘enforced collective’ (Goffman, [1961] 1991) and prisoners are, if anything, plagued by ‘life en masse’ (Sykes, 1958), yet the depth and weight of loneliness in prison can be intense. Prisons are often associated with metaphors of loneliness, disruption and empty time, and, as Armstrong (2018) highlights, imprisonment is an exemplary symbol for being stuck in space and time. Based on empirical data from a study of imprisonment in England & Wales and Norway, in this article we analyse several forms of loneliness found in prisons and beyond, from the visceral, immediate sense of being physically alone and separated from loved ones to the ethical or existential experience of abandonment and hopelessness. We conclude by pointing to the fact that the two otherwise very different penal contexts yield similar findings when it comes to the experiences of loneliness. This implies that the sense of not fitting in, of being ‘ethically alone’ (Stauffer, 2015) and essentially misrecognized (Lister in Fraser and Bourdieu, 2007), goes beyond specific prisons and jurisdictions. We also note that, as well as evoking feelings of loneliness, in some circumstances imprisonment can provide some respite from it.

乍一看，当代监狱是由“被强迫的集体”（Goffman，[1961] 1991）定义的环境，囚犯（如果有的话）会受到“大规模生活”的困扰（Sykes，1958），但孤独的深度和重重在监狱里可能会很激烈。监狱通常与孤独，混乱和空余时间的隐喻相关联，正如Armstrong（2018）强调的那样，监禁是卡在空间和时间中的典范标志。基于对英格兰，威尔士和挪威的监禁研究的经验数据，在本文中，我们分析了在监狱内外发现的几种孤独感，包括内在的，直接的身体孤独感，与亲人的分离感，道德感或道德感。被遗弃和绝望的生存经验。我们通过指出以下事实得出结论：在涉及孤独感时，这两种原本截然不同的刑法背景会产生相似的发现。这意味着不适应，被“道德上孤立”（Stauffer，2015年）和本质上被误认（Lister in Fraser and Bourdieu，2007年）的感觉超出了特定的监狱和管辖范围。我们还注意到，在某些情况下，除了唤起孤独感外，监禁还可以缓解这种情况。