Navigating the cadence of the soundscape was intimately entwined with the ecology of survival. Learning to hear where power was less implicated in motivations for behaviour added clarity and definition to understanding where it was more keenly felt, and by whom. Charting this process with others extended understanding of how this shaped relationships between people and place.

The nuance, significance and delicacy of relationships between prisoners and staff, as well as within respective groups, reflected complexity in the recognition of distinctions between different levels of experience. While this depended somewhat on circumstances, prisoners differed markedly in their feelings about the potency of the broader institution, the ‘system’ and relationships with individual staff. This was instructive for understanding distinctions in the forms and flows of power between individuals, the institution and broader conceptions of ‘the system’.

Every contact matters

Difference between relationships with the broader institution and those which comprised the stuff of daily life was a recurring feature of conversation. Stretch had developed a deep familiarity with both the institution and various members of its community. The profound demarcation of his respective feelings for people and place was a powerful indication of how deeply these distinctions forged his relationship with Midtown. He had little affection for the prison (though described it in terms of territorial belonging elsewhere): “Just blow this place off the face of the earth … This is inhumane. This place is inhumane.” He used a range of expletives to refer to some members of staff, so his fondness for them was far from universal. However, the significant degree of attachment and mutual care he expressed for others was profound and affecting. His fondness extended to assigning some members of staff quasi-parental roles. This spoke both to their significance in his personal narrative and the care and sensitivity with which these individuals conducted their job: “I’m lucky I’ve got Miss F, Mr S, Mr P on the First-Night Centre. They just pick me up and they’re like me parents, literally.” If the soundscape reverberated with stark power asymmetries between people and place, it also hummed with interactions forged by concern and understanding.