"Broken Ties and Lasting Labels: Stigmatization, Social Exclusion, and Recidivism in the Gendered Pathways of Incarceration in Tunisia"

Abstract

The gendered nature of incarceration in Tunisia—where the lives of female prisoners remain largely invisible in dominant criminological theory—is critically examined in this article. Drawing on qualitative interviews with former detainees and informed by sociological and feminist theories of deviance, labeling, and social control, the research explores how imprisonment erases women's social identities, disrupts familial ties, and entrenches long-term exclusion. It identifies two key axes of this exclusion; the erosion of family and social relationships, which often amounts to symbolic social death, and post-carceral stigmatization that labels women as irredeemably deviant, undermining their prospects for reintegration. These processes are deeply rooted in the Tunisian sociocultural context, where prevailing norms of femininity, honor, and family amplify the punishment women face both during and after incarceration. The article argues that the penal system is not a corrective institution but rather a gendered space of social control that perpetuates cycles of recidivism and exclusion. By adopting an intersectional, women-centered perspective and foregrounding female voices and experiences, the study advocates for intersectional prison policy reforms and a rethinking of current penal strategies that reinforce gender inequalities.