Emotion Management and Feeling Rules in Lithuanian Women’s Prison

The article explores how inmates in Panevėžys Correctional Facility, Lithuania’s only women’s prison, manage and express their emotions. The study utilizes the theories of emotions as a social glue and emotional contamination. Through semi-structured interviews with female inmates, the study found that emotional restraint was the norm in prison. Women were expected to appear emotionally strong and avoid displaying vulnerability. Additionally, the study discovered that expressing emotions was not considered a crucial component of femininity. Women’s emotional competencies in prison were linked to their ability to hide their emotions and to open up only to a limited number of other inmates who became emotional support networks. The study suggests that emotional restraint among inmates is not due to gender but rather influenced by the prison environment, which fosters mutual mistrust and emotional claustrophobia.