Reflections of a Finnish Prison working environment, during cost-cutting era: fieldwork in a prison

Author: Marja-Liisa Räisänen (University of Turku) 

In
my paper I reflect the position of an ethnographer in a work community,
which is under a severe change in near future. I went to prison to do
fieldwork openly telling all the people in what I was going to do, and
why.

In
my paper, I present an empirical insight of doing ethnographic
fieldwork in a closed institution. I reflect the position of an
ethnologist in a very sensitive work community, in a community, which is
to be closed down in a near future. I went to prison to do fieldwork
openly telling all the people in what I was going to do, and why.

While
doing fieldwork in a prison, I experienced many surprising situations
leading to reflections, such as how the prison workers´ emotions and
thoughts of the ongoing situation in the prison were revealed to me, the
outsider of the working community. Nevertheless I did tell everyone,
what I was doing and why. I thought it was the only way to collect
information of the situation in the work place. The workers felt
betrayed, and they didn't trust anyone. To my opinion undisclosed
research is highly problematical in the field of prison studies.

This
paper is based on my doctoral dissertation study a prison work
community. In my thesis I reflect the position of an ethnographer in a
undisclosed work environment, and in a delicate work community. In
addition, my research question is to find an answer to the question how a
Finnish government decision from 2003 to increase the productivity of
the public sector reflects prison officers' daily life.