Genre et traitement des détenues dans la région du centre : cas de la prison de Mfou

Abstract

Our research is entitled “gender and treatment of detainees in the central region: case of Mfou prison” it was born from an observation of the precarious situation encountered by a detainee in a prison environment. If the prison is a place of disciplinarization and re-education, the approach of the valorization of human rights requires a humanization of the treatment of prisoners as a whole. The prison case of Mfou shows little consideration of the gender aspect in the approaches to disciplinarization and re-education, it also follows after our observation, a problem of psychological monitoring of detainees and the non-participation of women in prison initiatives. A sociological approach to this phenomenon led to a main question: how is the gender dimension taken into account in Mfou prison? Our main hypothesis is that the gender dimension is not sufficiently taken into account in Mfou prison. To verify our hypothesis, we used qualitative methods and focused on the theory of symbolic interactionism (Goffman, 1988) and the theory of biopower (Gros, 2017). Data collection was done through documentary research, direct observation, semi-structured interview, analysis of collected data obtained in Mfou prison. And to give a boost to our results, all this has allowed us to understand the stakes of a woman's life and her future in prison, she who is constantly confronted with gender discrimination, is relegated to the background. The results are such that the care of prisoners is not adapted to all gender categories, specifically that of women. To explain this, we found that this is due to the absence of a gender expert in the administrative staff of Mfou prison.