Food, Power, and Care in Women’s Prisons in England

Food carries a range of meanings that shape the lived experiences of women in prison. It can be both a mechanism of control and a means of resisting the everyday realities of punishment. Drawing on a qualitative research project involving incarcerated women in England, this session explores food as a critical lens through which to deepen current understandings of the relationship between control and care within prison settings. In this project, we argue that food not only reflects these dynamics but also provides an alternative way of understanding how regimes of control can simultaneously form opportunities for acts of care that challenge the everyday hostility of prison life. The session is guided by the question: How does food operate as a mechanism of control, and what do these dynamics reveal about the nature of care within carceral environments? By bringing these themes together, the session demonstrates that control and care are not opposing forces but are deeply interconnected in everyday prison life. In doing so, it highlights the pivotal role of food in shaping social relationships, reaffirming social and cultural identities as well as the everyday practices for women in prison.

About the guests

Maria Adams is an Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Surrey. Her research examines social identities, inequalities, families, communities, and imprisonment. She is currently leading several externally funded research projects, including exploring the role of food in women’s prisons. She is also a James Fellow in the Social Sciences for 2026 at the University of Sydney.

Readings

'Prison food: what we learned from organising food‑themed art workshops for women prisoners' (2023) by Maria Adams, Erin Power, and John Garland (click here to read).

'"You feel like you’re doing something": Foodcare as a family practice in the space of the prison visiting room' (2025) by Vicki Harman et al. (click here to read).

This event is run in collaboration with the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies at the University of Sydney.

Contact the host of Bridges Inside: Sharing Space (November)

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