Interpretive Harms and Contested Agency: Transphobic Ideology, Correctional Officers, and the Law
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2023
Abstract
The Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act (TRADA) (2020), marks a drastic procedural turn in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s response to incarcerated transgender people. TRADA, in fact, attempts to significantly reduce victimization and expand the rights of incarcerated transgender people, compelling correctional officers (COs) to give “serious consideration” to “perceptions of health and safety” when making housing decisions, honor and consistently use proper pronouns and honorifics for incarcerated trans people, and respect a person’s gender identity in regard to body search policies. Where TRADA has the potential to be quite beneficial for trans prisoners, it could be interpreted as adversarial toward COs, both in practice and ideologically. For this reason, the evaluation of COs’ attitudes, opinions, and beliefs concerning TRADA, and policies like it, could provide valuable insight on how legislative attempts at prison reform play out on the ground level. Reporting on an original study conducted by an incarcerated trans scholar, this article examines how COs’ transphobic ideological conformities influence their agreement with, and interpretation of, policies which directly affect transgender prisoners.
Recommended Citation
Gordon, Angie D. and Lenning, Emily, "Interpretive Harms and Contested Agency: Transphobic Ideology, Correctional Officers, and the Law" (2023). College of Humanities and Social Sciences. 361.
https://digitalcommons.uncfsu.edu/college_humanities_social_sciences/361