Author(s): THORESEN, T., Institution: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH EASTERN NORWAY, Country: NORWAY, Abstract-ID: 1513

Incarceration imposes structural constraints that deeply affect individuals' relationships with their bodies. To better understand how male inmates’ experience and talk about their bodies while incarcerated, a study in a low security prison setting in Norway was carried out. The body, within a prison environment, is described as a focal point of institutional control and surveillance, but it simultaneously serves as a medium for resistance, identity construction, and emotional regulation (de la Tierra, A. 2023; Hervik et al. 2025; Liguori, F., & Calella, P. 2021). On this backdrop, this study explores how male inmates narrate their experiences of embodiment, identity and anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use. Further, it investigates how physical activity, bodily transformation and substance use function as strategies of resistance and identity construction in a carceral setting.
The study analyzes qualitative interview data collected from 19 inmates in a low security Forest Prison in Norway. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns in how inmates experience and articulate embodiment. The body emerges as a central site for agency, coping and social positioning. Inmates also experience institutional deterioration, often referred to as wear and tear and confinement trauma.
Physical activity is used as a tool to reclaim self-control and facilitate emotional regulation. Also, AAS (anabolic androgenic steroids) use is prevalent as a performance enhancer and is mostly a well-known drug amongst inmates. Some inmates also report that they are introduced to AAS for the first time while incarcerated. This may reflect a shifting ideal of masculinity, moving away from "huge" 90s bodybuilder type to the modern "fit" and more "defined “aesthetic”, often involving growth hormones.

The findings reveal the complex relationship between the experienced need for physical transformation, doping as part of this picture, desire to change social status and identity work in a prison setting. The narratives strongly express how the body functions as a critical medium through which incarcerated individuals negotiate power, identity, and survival. While the open prison system offers greater bodily freedom, limitations within the prison setting in health support and personalized follow-up undermine the potential for healthy lifestyle changes. Inmates who actively pursue physical transformation, whether through intense training or the use of doping agents is employing forms of embodied agency to counteract the disempowerment and psychological deterioration inherent in the carceral environment. Supporting bodily autonomy is crucial, as inmates report greater well-being and a stronger sense of self when it is prioritized.