Abstract

These field notes are based on ethnographic research carried out for a year (between 2014 and 2015) in two Tuscan prisons (Firenze and Prato) and in a day-centre, as well as on some informal interviews to both subjects under probation and prison officers. As we were operating during our voluntary service, we conducted a covert observation study: this allowed us have almost complete access to some restricted areas. In this article, we focus on two issues: first, the interaction between officers and detainees, characterized by a relationship of indifference; second, the persistence of some «prison behavioural codes» even after detainees' prison experience.