2005 Programme Session 9b

Session 9b: Prisons, Professionals, and the Real
Chair: Neil Cochrane

How (Not) to Tell About It: Homosexuals and Homosexuality in KL Auschwitz-Birkenau According to Prisoners’ Relations
Agnieszka Weseli-Ginter
University of Warsaw, Poland

In Nazi era the prime aim of German state was to turn German nation into the uniform community of physically, mentally and morally sane Aryans, whose destiny was to rule the world. Homosexual persons, who along with other asocial individuals (mentally ill, retarded, racially impure, breaking - like prostitutes - the rules of sane, i.e. procreation-centered sexual behavior) were persecuted by Third Reich authorities as threat to fertility and power growth of German nation, since mid-1930's have been sent to concentration camps.
Their orientation, stigmatized by symbolical pink triangle, might mean death sentence. But same sex relations that began in the camp might as well open the door to survival, if it enabled "profiting" of some kind from relations with privileged prisoners or SS camp staff. In both cases homosexuals were rejected by prisoners community, it seems so according to former prisoners' relations from Auschwitz-Birkenau camp archive, which are main basis of my research. While other related topics are already well researched, KL Aiuschwitz Birkenau case has been forgotten for many decades.
I focus on image of homosexual prisoners seen by people of different age, sex, social background and education, having different status in camp hierarchy. Among other aspects, I am interested in stereotypical views of homosexuals and homosexuality and the language used by former prisoners to describe these phenomena. What makes the research difficult, is relatively small number and extent of relations concerning homosexuals. This fact alone stands for important indication in studying attitudes toward this group, which for many years could not reclaim due place among Nazi regime victims.

Where’s the Victim? Representations of (Homo) Sexuality in the U.S. Prison Rape Elimination Act
Valerie Jenness and Jodi O’Brien
Department of Criminology, Law and Society, Department of Sociology, University of California, Irvine and Department of Sociology, Seattle University, Seattle, WA, USA

In 2003 the United States Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act. This Act provides funds to study prison rape and mandates its elimination. The Act is noteworthy for its implied focus on prisoner welfare. This is an unusual, and in recent history, unprecedented focus. Rarely has Congress (or the United States public) shown an interest in the specific treatment of prisoners. When treatment concerns are raised, the focus is usually on the state (i.e., prisons and prison administration) rather than on relations between prisoners. This study explores the underlying reasons for the emergence of the Prison Rape Elimination Act. The unusual and unprecedented focus of the Act raises questions about the social movement efforts responsible for the act (e.g., Amnesty International and prisoners' rights movements) and the related constructions of sexuality and homosexuality. The specific focus in this paper is the manner in which sexuality was constructed and framed in congressional hearings regarding the proposed Act. The discourse of sexuality that emerges from these hearings (and in the representations of sexuality used by sponsoring groups) raises complex questions regarding the intersection of sex, sexuality, gender, victim status and social change. For instance, in what ways do the representations of prison rape differ from or complement current representations of rape of women by men? What conditions are assumed to be necessary in order for the behavior to be considered 'rape' as opposed to "something deserved" by virtue of social position (e.g., representations of rapes of sex workers often imply that the employment choices of the sex workers involve known risks such as rape, and that this mediates any claim to victim status)? In this paper we present material from congressional hearings and related social movement propositions related to the Prison Rape Elimination Act and a critical interpretation of this material. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the discourses of sexuality contained in these materials.



2nd Global Conference Wednesday 30th November - Saturday 3rd December 2005 Vienna, Austria Conference Programme, Abstracts and Papers
Session 9b: Prisons, Professionals, and the Real Chair: Neil Cochrane How (Not) to Tell About It: Homosexuals and Homosexuality in KL Auschwitz-Birkenau According to Prisoners’ Relations Agnieszka Weseli-Ginter University of Warsaw, Poland In Nazi era the prime aim of German state was to turn German nation into the uniform community of physically, mentally and morally sane Aryans, whose destiny was to rule the world. Homosexual persons, who along with other asocial individuals (mentally ill, retarded, racially impure, breaking - like prostitutes - the rules of sane, i.e. procreation-centered sexual behavior) were persecuted by Third Reich authorities as threat to fertility and power growth of German nation, since mid-1930's have been sent to concentration camps. Their orientation, stigmatized by symbolical pink triangle, might mean death sentence. But same sex relations that began in the camp might as well open the door to survival, if it enabled "profiting" of some kind from relations with privileged prisoners or SS camp staff. In both cases homosexuals were rejected by prisoners community, it seems so according to former prisoners' relations from Auschwitz-Birkenau camp archive, which are main basis of my research. While other related topics are already well researched, KL Aiuschwitz Birkenau case has been forgotten for many decades. I focus on image of homosexual prisoners seen by people of different age, sex, social background and education, having different status in camp hierarchy. Among other aspects, I am interested in stereotypical views of homosexuals and homosexuality and the language used by former prisoners to describe these phenomena. What makes the research difficult, is relatively small number and extent of relations concerning homosexuals. This fact alone stands for important indication in studying attitudes toward this group, which for many years could not reclaim due place among Nazi regime victims. Where’s the Victim? Representations of (Homo) Sexuality in the U.S. Prison Rape Elimination Act Valerie Jenness and Jodi O’Brien Department of Criminology, Law and Society, Department of Sociology, University of California, Irvine and Department of Sociology, Seattle University, Seattle, WA, USA In 2003 the United States Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act. This Act provides funds to study prison rape and mandates its elimination. The Act is noteworthy for its implied focus on prisoner welfare. This is an unusual, and in recent history, unprecedented focus. Rarely has Congress (or the United States public) shown an interest in the specific treatment of prisoners. When treatment concerns are raised, the focus is usually on the state (i.e., prisons and prison administration) rather than on relations between prisoners. This study explores the underlying reasons for the emergence of the Prison Rape Elimination Act. The unusual and unprecedented focus of the Act raises questions about the social movement efforts responsible for the act (e.g., Amnesty International and prisoners' rights movements) and the related constructions of sexuality and homosexuality. The specific focus in this paper is the manner in which sexuality was constructed and framed in congressional hearings regarding the proposed Act. The discourse of sexuality that emerges from these hearings (and in the representations of sexuality used by sponsoring groups) raises complex questions regarding the intersection of sex, sexuality, gender, victim status and social change. For instance, in what ways do the representations of prison rape differ from or complement current representations of rape of women by men? What conditions are assumed to be necessary in order for the behavior to be considered 'rape' as opposed to "something deserved" by virtue of social position (e.g., representations of rapes of sex workers often imply that the employment choices of the sex workers involve known risks such as rape, and that this mediates any claim to victim status)? In this paper we present material from congressional hearings and related social movement propositions related to the Prison Rape Elimination Act and a critical interpretation of this material. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the discourses of sexuality contained in these materials.
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