”Ja men det är ju en tjej, varför ska vi kalla honom för Kalle?” : Kriminalvårdsanställdas resonemang kring arbetet med intagna transpersoner

The aim of this study was to examine how prison officers experience the work with transgender inmates in a government agency based on gender binarity. Qualitative interviews with seven prison officers were conducted to answer the aim and questions of the study. A targeted selection was used to find interviewees. The theories used to analyze the empirical data was Queer theory with Michel Foucault’s and Judith Butler’s theoretical perspectives as the main focus. To further deepen the analysis, Goffman’s theory about Stigma was used. The results of the study showed that the prison officers view transgender inmates as a vulnerable group and stated the need to protect them from harm caused by other inmates. They also stated that other inmates view transgender inmates as deviant, which further strengthens the group’s vulnerability. Furthermore the results showed that the norms about femininity and masculinity which are constructed in the studied prisons affect the transgender’s openness about their gender identity. Acceptance and acknowledgement are raised by the interviewees as especially important to the transgender inmates since they, like everyone else, want to be acknowledged for who they are. Moreover the results showed that the acknowledgement, in some cases was lacking, due to insufficient knowledge. The lack of knowledge about transgender people among prison officers in general was also shown through their choice of words. In conclusion, the lack of knowledge and the choice of words contributes to the upholding and reproduction of the stigmatization of a socially vulnerable group and of the construction of norms about sex, gender and sexuality