From discourse to reality: (Im)possibilities for transformation in three contexts of confinement

Abstract

In this text, we compare our experience in a participatory action research project that explores structural violence in Mexico through the production of autobiographical narratives of people confined in three different contexts: a prison, a rehabilitation clinic, and a group home. Using a theoretical framework of institutionalization and transformative education, we consider the factors that facilitated and hindered transformative learning in each setting. In the results, we highlight the benefits linked to the stability of the groups, the interest in developing reading, writing, and dialogue skills, as well as the enthusiasm for participating in a project that seeks to reduce stigmas and share their stories. Conversely, the main obstacles have to do with complicated relationships with formal and informal authorities and norms, inequalities between participants, and structural violence that inhibit the possibility of transformation.