Jailization: Entering the lobby to the US criminal legal system
March 2nd, 2026
We recommend the reading of the article “Jailization: Entering the lobby to the US criminal legal system”, written by Gabreélla Friday, Kaitlyn M. Sims, and Erin Eife. The article was published in February 2026 in Punishment & Society.
Through an empirical analysis conducted with individuals detained in short-term facilities, the authors show how entry into “jails” produces social, psychological, and institutional effects that embed individuals more deeply within the criminal legal system; in doing so, they introduce the concept of “jailization.” The study highlights how jails, often regarded as marginal or merely transitional spaces compared to traditional prisons, in fact constitute a central node in the reproduction of inequalities and the normalization of penal experience.
The full article can be accessed at the following link.