Lucian Rotariu, Jilava: O radiografie socială a unui penitenciar, Editura Ars Docendi, București, 2016, 190 p.

• Main Author: Mihai Milca
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Expert Projects 2020-06-01
• Series: Sociologie Românească
• Subjects: Penitentiary; Doing time; Social radiography; Prison studies; Jilava Prison
• Online Access: http://revistasociologieromaneasca.ro/sr/article/view/1406

This paper is a review of Jilava: O radiografie socială a unui penitenciar (en. Jilava: a penitentiary’s social radiography) written by the sociologist PhD Lucian Rotariu. Doing time is a topical subject in the studies conducted by scholars from social disciplines. In his book the roles, norms, social relations and conditions observed in a Romanian prison are analyzed from a sociological perspective. Using a qualitative approach, the author interviewed 38 inmates from Bucharest-Jilava Prison. Following a pointillist perspective, where each social sequence has a place and time in the inside world, the author managed to offer an honest, equidistant and professional study for all the social actors (researchers, practitioners) interested in the prison subject.