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The Association of Carceral Sites and Museums is pleased to serve as a forum of education and dialogue regarding carceral tourism practices and scholarship.
Articles of Interest
"Rethinking Prison Tourism"
"How American Prisons Became a Bizarre Tourist Mecca"
"Prison Tourism in the Era of Mass Incarceration"
"Prison tourism often relies heavily on the spooky, the gruesome, and the salacious to attract visitors for a playful afternoon of ducking into cells and taking selfies in striped jumpsuits. But the entire industry, built largely on entertainment at the expense of incarcerated people’s dignity, is grappling with a growing criminal justice
"Prison tourism often relies heavily on the spooky, the gruesome, and the salacious to attract visitors for a playful afternoon of ducking into cells and taking selfies in striped jumpsuits. But the entire industry, built largely on entertainment at the expense of incarcerated people’s dignity, is grappling with a growing criminal justice reform movement — and the business is being challenged by questions about exploitation and voyeurism."
Read more at: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/06/09/rethinking-prison-tourism
"Prison Tourism in the Era of Mass Incarceration"
"How American Prisons Became a Bizarre Tourist Mecca"
"Prison Tourism in the Era of Mass Incarceration"
"Given the ubiquity of prisons in contemporary life, the emergence of penal tourism is not surprising. It has occurred in tandem with steady increases in the size of the global prison population, as well as the colossal expansion of the American prison system. Today, ten and a half million people are incarcerated worldwide, with nearly a
"Given the ubiquity of prisons in contemporary life, the emergence of penal tourism is not surprising. It has occurred in tandem with steady increases in the size of the global prison population, as well as the colossal expansion of the American prison system. Today, ten and a half million people are incarcerated worldwide, with nearly a quarter confined in the U.S."
Read more at: https://contexts.org/articles/prison-tourism-in-the-era-of-mass-incarceration/
"How American Prisons Became a Bizarre Tourist Mecca"
"How American Prisons Became a Bizarre Tourist Mecca"
"How American Prisons Became a Bizarre Tourist Mecca"
"Whether it’s visiting the 9/11 Memorial, the ruins of Pompeii or the Tower of London, grief tourism, also called dark tourism, has long had an appeal. But since the 1990s, as the U.S. prison population exploded, new, bigger prisons were built –and states looked for a way to repurpose older ones. “They couldn’t afford to demolish [or remo
"Whether it’s visiting the 9/11 Memorial, the ruins of Pompeii or the Tower of London, grief tourism, also called dark tourism, has long had an appeal. But since the 1990s, as the U.S. prison population exploded, new, bigger prisons were built –and states looked for a way to repurpose older ones. “They couldn’t afford to demolish [or remodel them],” said Michelle Brown, associate professor of sociology at the University of Tennessee.
And so, many old prisons were converted into museums or recreational sites catering to tourists.
Read more at: https://fortune.com/2016/08/17/prison-tourism-museums
Prison Public History Projects
Prison Public Memory Project
Prison Public Memory Project
Prison Public Memory Project
The PPMP uses "public history, art, storytelling and media to engage communities in conversation about the complex roles of prisons in America. [They also serve] as a virtual museum and library curating, interpreting and lending information about prison history in the United States to a global public."
Learn more here.
States of Incarceration
Prison Public Memory Project
Prison Public Memory Project
States of Incarceration is a collaborative research exhibit, "created by over 800 people in 18 states, and growing. [They] explore the roots of mass incarceration in [their] communities—to open national dialogue on what should happen next."
Learn more here.
"Ear Hustle" Podcast
Prison Public Memory Project
The Sentencing Project
"Ear Hustle launched in 2017 as the first podcast created and produced in prison, featuring stories of the daily realities of life inside California’s San Quentin State Prison, shared by those living it. [The] podcast now tells stories from inside prison and from the outside, post-incarceration."
Learn more here.
The Sentencing Project
Prison Postcard Collection
The Sentencing Project
"The Sentencing Project compiles state-level criminal justice data from a variety of sources. Under Detailed State Data, you can access full datasets for each state and compare states. In State Rankings, you can see how states stack up against each other in different areas."
Learn more here.
Prison Postcard Collection
Prison Postcard Collection
Prison Postcard Collection
"This collection consists of postcards depicting prisons, jails, and courthouse. The bulk of the collection relates to prisons in the United States, but a small number of postcards contain images of prisons or jails from around the world. Most of the postcards were printed in the early 20th century. This material was donated to Kent State University by Albert and Helen Borowitz."
Learn more here.