20 - Phasing

Summary

There was a comforting respite from the enervating boredom of prison life in working cooperatively to get by and get on. This was indicated by the number of different behaviours from all sections of the community which worked to reinstate regular rhythms in the wake of their disruption. Audible components of these efforts were instructive for what they revealed about the nature of order and its maintenance. Processes concerned with reinstating stability were complex and multifarious, co-produced by various members of the community – prisoners and staff – rather than imposed from above.

Phasing is a phrasing in music which denotes separate parts playing the same piece but at different tempos, moving further apart before coming back into unison. I use this to collectively refer to the set of practices concerned with reintroducing polyrhythmia whether in the wake of an arrhythmic episode or a period of staccato unease. These took various forms, some organized and systematic, such as controlled unlock or putting everyone away for ten minutes so the staff could reset. There were also informal and individual efforts from various quarters. While these endeavours were spontaneous and separate rather than concerted, the resulting stability was co-produced, the outcome of various actors and actions. Focusing on daily rhythms revealed the multiplicities of behaviours, and agents, affecting the sound environment to restore order and to lighten the emotional climate of the wing.

One of many questions I puzzled over as I worked to understand the environment was what distinguished an ongoing series of events, or prolonged ‘spikiness’, from an isolated incident. I am not convinced I have an adequate answer, or whether I was imposing post-hoc understanding. Perhaps its complexity resists easy or formulaic explanations. What did become apparent as I listened to the environment was the range of people and approaches concerned with smoothing over, relieving tension, getting the routine back into gear, as if recovering a normal heart rate after a palpitation. The prison environment was likened to a ‘pressure cooker’.