Flipping the Script: Masculinity and Reintegration in a Parolee Mentoring Programme
| Published date | 01 December 2017 |
| Date | 01 December 2017 |
| Author | PATRICK GERKIN,JOHN P. WALSH |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12228 |
The Howard Journal Vol56 No 4. December 2017 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12228
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 454–479
Flipping the Script: Masculinity and
Reintegration in a Parolee Mentoring
Programme
JOHN P. WALSH and PATRICK GERKIN
Associate Professors, School of Criminal Justice, Grand Valley State
University, Michigan, USA
Abstract: This research presentsthe culmination of more than 80 hours of observation of a
community-based reintegration programme known as Coalition, Leadership, Education,
Advice, and Rehabilitation (CLEAR). Through a thematic analysis of discussions between
returning and returned citizens, the research explores the role of masculinity in crime
cessation and reintegration among a groupof predominantlyminority males. Our findings
suggest that masculinity, although not always identified, is a salient factor in the subject’s
lives and routinely gives shape to their behaviour.
Keywords: masculinity; mentoring; narrative analysis; parole; reintegration
In 1964, TalcottParsons offered a gendered explanation of the male domi-
nance in crime participation. Parsons suggested that young men internalise
masculinity during adolescence, resulting in higher levels of participation
in crime (Parsons 1964). Parsons was by no means the first to incorporate
gender into criminal justice research, but rather contributed to a body of
research that has grown immensely since the 1960s. More recently, the
topic of masculinity and crime desistance has been given significant at-
tention (Bushway et al. 2001; King 2013; Laub and Sampson 2001, 2003;
Maruna 2001). Despite a definitional debate over the concept of masculin-
ity, as it pertains to desistance from crime, research in this area continues
to swell.
This research seeks to combine these two topics and explores the
role of masculinity in crime desistance and successful reintegration for
a group of men who participate in a local parolee mentoring programme
within a small Midwestern city in the United States of America.1Parolees’
(referred to hereafter as ‘returning citizens’) and former parolees’ (re-
ferred to hereafter as ‘returned citizens’) narratives are utilised to explore
the way in which men’s behaviour is situated in their heavily-gendered
lives.
454
C
2017 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
The Howard Journal Vol56 No 4. December 2017
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 454–479
Literature Review
According to Messerschmidt (1993): ‘ . . . there is little doubt that, although
traditionally written by men and primarily about men and boys, major the-
oretical works in criminology are alarmingly gender-blind’ (p.1). Despite
the overwhelming evidence of the gendered nature of criminal behaviour,
a pattern that has been consistent for many decades, Messerschmidt be-
lieved that criminologists continued to neglect gender in criminological
theories. Initially drawing on the notion of ‘doing gender’ (West and
Zimmerman 1987), Messerschmidt (1993) explored crime as a means of
‘doing masculinity’ for men and boys. Messerschmidt continued to develop
and refine his position for the better part of two decades (see Connell and
Messerschmidt 2005; Messerschmidt 1997, 2000, 2004, 2012a, 2012b).
In the 21st Century, we have a far more nuanced understanding of
masculinity. Scholars have come to recognise the existence of multiple
masculinities and/or femininities and theorists are exploring the impact
of a diverse collection of variables including contextual factors, geogra-
phy, and the economy in shaping masculinity (Connell 1993; Connell
and Messerschmidt 2005; Messerschmidt 2012b; Ricciardelli, Maier and
Hannah-Moffat 2015). Furthermore, theorists have identified the need to
explore the intersectionality of masculinity and race/ethnicity, class, age,
and sexual orientation (Connell and Messerschmidt 2005). What follows
here is a review of the literature devoted to the role of masculinity in
crime and crime desistance. Specific attention is given to the ways in which
definitions of masculinity vary along racial lines and throughout the life
course. Exploring masculinity and the role masculinity plays in criminal
behaviour is but one way to explore the gendered nature of criminal
behaviour.
Hegemonic Masculinity and Crime
Hegemonic masculinity, since at least the mid-1980s, has been theorised
in numerous ways and it continues to be the subject of criminological
inquiry and debate (Ricciardelli 2015; Ricciardelli, Maier and Hannah-
Moffat 2015). The issue is further complicated given the consensus that
hegemonic masculinity is not static, but rather a fluid construct influenced
by context, time, geography, race/ethnicity, and the economy, among other
variables (Connell 1995; Messerschmidt 2012b; Ricciardelli 2015). Accord-
ing to Messerschmidt (1997): ‘ .. . masculinity and femininity are based on
a social construct that reflects unique circumstances and relationships – a
social construction that is renegotiated in each particular context’ (p.12). All
of this variation makes it difficult to define or describe, exactly, what hege-
monic masculinity is. According to Ricciardelli (2015), the ‘Male hegemony
signifies culturally normative and influential ideals of masculinity that shift
overtime . . . It reflects the socially dominant manifestation of masculinity
– the most respected, idealised and revered way of being a man’ (p.171).
This conceptualisation recognises the fluid nature of hegemonic masculin-
ity and the diversity of masculine identities that exist within any given
space.
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2017 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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