Becoming revenants: An exploration of magical contagion, shame and stigma after imprisonment

This paper explores the process of becoming revenant, returning from the social death of imprisonment. It is an autoethnographic inquiry into how we women cope with the spectres of shame and stigma of imprisonment when we are contaminated by the emotional residues of prison. In it, I explore my experiences of using the transformative potential of shame and stigma as a springboard, propelling me to overcome the debilitating labels and expectations that were placed upon me after release from prison. I investigate the phenomenon of becoming revenant, contaminated by the magical contagion of stigma and shame, and apply it to the process of reentry for individuals who have been previously imprisoned. Kissed by shame, mortification and the stigma of imprisonment, how do we women rebuild our lives after prison and make peace with the multiplicities that the process of becoming criminalised has birthed?