Laughter ≠ Humour: Sounding, Face and Masculinity Between Prison and Street.

Authors

Marguerite Schinkel, Alistair Fraser

Published in

International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology. Pages 306624X261488014. Sep 22, 2026. Epub Sep 22, 2026.

Abstract

Humour and laughter have received increasing attention in narrative criminology, but existing scholarship has tended to collapse them into a single analytic entity. In this paper, we foreground the awkward spaces that lie in the space between. Based on two research projects carried out with street and justice-involved men in Scotland, where the fusion of masculinities, humour and 'patter' has for many years formed an important aspect of culture and identity, we first examine the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in moments where laughter follows humour. We then move onto an examination of humour without laughter and laughter without humour, developing a juxtaposition between humour as offence and laughter as defence, analysing both as strategies to maintain face and manage shame. In so doing we contribute to the probing of the often unseen or intangible aspects of narratives in criminological contexts that nonetheless can be deeply revealing.

PMID:
42773057
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Sep 2026.

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