"It's All About Adapting, It's All About Progress": Social Death and Personal Development in Illinois Prisons

This thesis analyzes qualitative interviews with practitioners, both formerly and non-formerly incarcerated, in criminal justice system-related fields to address how Illinois Department of Corrections facilities shape social death, and how individuals evolve despite these structures. While past research heavily centers on family support, higher-level incarceration challenges, and re-entry employment struggles, this work emphasizes fictive kin connections and how day-to-day resistance in institutions shapes social behaviors. This thesis finds that IDOC institutions shape social death through isolation, strategic dehumanization, and insufficient rehabilitation; after release, social death persists through stigmatization. Despite these barriers, individuals demonstrate mental fortitude, construct new communities in a socially sterile world, and pursue educational pathways. After release, a mindset of change and support from other formerly incarcerated individuals proved essential. Policy changes around robust restorative justice practices are needed, plus remaining research evaluating effective strategies to better humanize incarcerated individuals and eliminate racial/ethnic disparities.