Drawing on interview data with over 50 male former prisoners in Ontario, Canada, we examine male ex-prisoners’ narratives of change within prison settings. Specifically, we focus on how ex-prisoners talk about change to self and their persona, as they reflect back on both their pre-prison selves and the ways they believe prison changed them. We find that these ex-prisoners described prison as a time where they developed a more general sense of positive change. Ex-prisoners described how prison living made them “calmer,” “stronger,” and more “patient” overall. These descriptions stand in tension with the overall hostility of prison environments where prisoners are forced to focus on survival and basic well-being as they navigate the risks and threats of prison living. Overall, in this article, we seek to contribute to emerging discussions on positivity within prison settings, acknowledging that studying the more positive impacts of prison is a delicate yet important endeavor necessary to help better understand the experiential complexities of punishment.

根据对加拿大安大略省 50 多名男性前囚犯的访谈数据，我们研究了男性前囚犯对监狱环境变化的叙述。具体来说，我们关注前囚犯如何谈论改变自己和他们的角色，因为他们反思了入狱前的自我以及他们认为监狱改变了他们的方式。我们发现这些前囚犯将监狱描述为他们发展出更普遍的积极变化意识的时期。前囚犯描述了监狱生活如何使他们总体上“更平静”、“更强壮”和“更有耐心”。这些描述与监狱环境的整体敌对关系存在紧张关系，在监狱环境中，囚犯在应对监狱生活的风险和威胁时被迫专注于生存和基本福祉。总的来说，在这篇文章中，