ABSTRACT
The research is concerned to unpack what 'doing' coercion is, by studying the day-to-day officer-prisoner interactions within one particular Italian custodial institution. It will empirically investigate a few dimensions which are at stake when officers are 'doing' coercion or, put differently, when they: construct a critical event; threaten the use of force or lawfully use force with prisoners. Studying the lawful practice of 'doing' coercion can shed light on the challenging and conflicted contexts and unbalanced power relations, which characterise the humus in which officers' misconduct, wrongdoing, abuses and alleged crimes might develop. The chapter turns to three scholars whose ideas and heuristic tools guided in constructing and fine-tuning own empirical approach in 'Doing' Coercion. The dynamic process of 'doing' coercion would not only depend on the officers' own discretionary decision as to whether to threaten prisoners, but also on the actions and reactions of those being threatened.
