More than Meals: A Narrative Criminological Analysis of Inmate‐Authored Cookbooks
| Author | A.E. STEARNS |
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12353 |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
The Howard Journal Vol59 No 1. March 2020 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12353
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 65–85
More than Meals: A Narrative
Criminological Analysis of
Inmate-Authored Cookbooks
A.E. STEARNS
Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Justice, University of Louisiana at
Lafayette, USA
Abstract: Cookbooks are cultural artifacts, providing glimpses into the ways in which
a society views itself. Cookbooks of incarcerated individuals are notably absent from the
landscape of scholarly work, although the genre can tell us much about a largely invisible
segment of society. Using a narrative criminology approach, this project situates inmate-
authored cookbooks as narrative and examines 13 inmate-authoredcookbooks to determine
how the structural elements of these narratives establish (or fail to establish) links with
wider, mainstream society. Results suggest that the majority of inmate-authored cookbooks
employ narrative structures and strategies that engage with outside society by challenging
the nature of ‘otherness’. Only a few cookbooks utilise such strategies as inside humour or
violent narratives to mark the boundaries of prison culture. Findings help to extend the
theoretical usefulness of narrative criminology, broaden and deepen our understanding
of the prison experience, and establish the prison cookbook as a valid form of narrative.
Keywords: inmate-authored cookbooks; narrative criminology; prison cook-
books; prison food
Cookbooks are cultural artifacts, able to provide glimpses into the way
in which a society views itself. When specific communities are oppressed,
ostracised, or affected by trauma, the way food is conceptualised within
collections of recipes can lend insight to such complex factors as identity
formation and survival tactics (Counihan 1999; Janowski 2012). Cookbooks
carve out social and cultural spaces (Gvoin 2009; Nussel 2006) where subal-
tern memory can thrive (Collings Eves 2005) and marginalised populations
can write themselves into existence (Bower 1997b).
The cookbooks of incarcerated individuals are notably absent from the
food and culture research landscape, although these cookbooks can po-
tentially tell us much about a significant segment of society that is largely
invisible. Detection of prosocial attitudes within prison recipe collections,
for example, can suggest that its authors possess evidence of prosocial
behaviour (that is, acceptance of attitudes and behaviours that aid in the
identification of acceptable societal norms and values per Bower (1997a)).
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2020 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
The Howard Journal Vol59 No 1. March 2020
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 65–85
There is also a gap in the criminological literature contextualising food
within jails and prisons. Prison cookbooks are an understudied and un-
dertheorised phenomenon across the spectrum of scholarly research.
In Bower’s (1997a) exploration of collaborative cookbooks, she suggests:
‘one dominant theme of community cookbooks is the breaking of silence,
the coming to public voice of people denied of that voice . . .’ (pp.46–7).
The incarcerated population, rarely acknowledged except through stereo-
typical and reductionist controlling images (Hill Collins 2000), can be seen
and heard through their first-hand writings. While it may be difficult to
comprehend the world that offenders inhabit, a critical examination of
prison cookbooks fosters a deeper understanding of incarcerated commu-
nities.
Working within a framework of narrative criminology (Presser 2009;
Presser and Sandberg 2015), this study analyses 13 publicly available cook-
books authored by current and former inmates with an aim to investigate
how these narratives establish (or fail to establish) links with wider, main-
stream society (for example, Maruna 2001; Presser and Sandberg 2015).
The project will help fill a substantial gap in both criminological and food-
ways literatures, contribute a richer perspective on the experiences of an
often-marginalised population, and increase the reach of narrative crimi-
nology’s theoretical application.
Cooking in Corrections
The cookbooks of interest in the current study contain recipes based on
in-cell cooking, an informal method of food preparation common among
prisoners across the US (Cate 2008; Smoyer 2014; Stearns 2019). Nutrition
in prisons or jails is provided through diverse methods of formal food de-
livery and processes, and each facility is responsible for determining which
system it will employ.Smoyer and Minke (2015) describe the variety of food
systems in operation throughout a number of countries, including the US.
Formal meal preparation is undertaken when regulation meals are pre-
pared in central kitchens by staff or employed inmates, prepared in self-
cook kitchens located in, or adjacent to, cells (fairly uncommon in the
US), or delivered from outside catering corporations. Supplemental food
sources may also be grown in prison gardens. In addition, prison and jail
canteens or commissaries, where pre-packaged goods can be purchased,
are present in virtually all facilities (Smoyer and Minke 2015).
Informal methods of food preparation also exist, whether or not these
are sanctioned by the prison administration. Informal food preparation
takes the form of in-cell cooking, meaning that inmates undertake food
preparation that is outside the purview of the administration. This pro-
duction encompasses a range of activities, including buying items from the
commissary or taking food from the central kitchen and developing unique
dishes that have been created solely by the inmates. Cooking processes in-
clude the use of microwaves, ‘stingers’ (electrical cords that have been
stripped and attached to metal to heat water), and hairdryers, to name
a few (Smoyer and Minke 2015). In-cell cooking is extremely common
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2020 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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