This UK article looks at societal devaluation associated with prisons, particularly with prisoners with additional devaluing conditions (e.g., intellectual impairment.) From the article:
• As part of my third-year learning disability branch
placement in a British prison I looked at social role
valorisation and how people with learning disabilities
are perceived in society.
• People are more likely to experience better lifestyle
opportunities if they hold a valued social role in their
communities (Osburn 2006). how a person is treated
by others has a strong influence on how that person
behaves. how a person sees another person affects
what they do with them and for them. this is the
basic premise of the social role valorisation theory
(Wolfensberger and tullman 1982).
The beliefs and values of social role valorisation
are particularly relevant to two groups of people
in society: people who are already devalued within
their society and people who are more vulnerable
to becoming devalued (Osburn 2006). historically,
prisoners have been regarded as being devalued by
society, for example, by being seen as a menace.
People with a learning disability have also been
devalued by society, for example, by being treated as
an object of pity (Wolfensberger and tullman 1982).
A prisoner with a learning disability, such as Cyril, is
especially vulnerable to being devalued and having
his prison lifestyle opportunities restricted.