![]() ![]() However, the other stated purposes of punishment suggest that sanctions should have profound subjective effects on individuals who are convicted. Putting a convicted criminal behind bars likely achieves some incapacitation. Although this form of punishment inherently causes distress due to the individual’s loss of liberty, it remains unclear today whether the mental suffering induced by prison environments has a meaningful relationship to the intended purposes of criminal sanctions - namely: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation and rehabilitation ( Sherman, 2003 Stetler & Goldstein, 2003). The invention of prisons during the Enlightenment was viewed as a humane alternative to corporal punishment and death sentences: instead of pain inflicted upon the individual’s body, punishment became internalized as pain wrought upon a person’s “soul” or mind through penitence ( Foucault, 1979 Sherman, 2003 Whitman, 2003). ![]() ![]() From a policy perspective, a punitive measure that affects such a large number of individuals can only be justified if its effects correspond to its stated aims ( Sherman, 2003). incarceration rate is much higher than that in Europe ( Aebi & Stadnic, 2005 Whitman, 2003), rates in countries such as France are also elevated and increasing ( Direction de l’Administration Pénitentiaire, 2008). residents (one in 37) have served time in prison ( Bonczar, 2003). jails and prisons ( Sabol, Minton, & Harrison, 2007). has grown by over 600% ( Bonczar, 2003), and there are currently over two million individuals incarcerated in U.S. If it were a disease entity, its prevalence would be of epidemic proportions: over the past 30 years, the prison population in the U.S. The experience of incarceration currently touches the lives of a substantial segment of the population. In Western society, incarceration is the accepted means for punishing offenders who have committed serious crimes. The themes evoked by mentally ill individuals in our sample suggest that their reactions to the prison environment arise in part from aspects of their psychiatric symptoms, and this may have relevance to future mental health policy and practices in criminal corrections. SMI subjects spoke in more hostile and persecutory terms about their experience in prison, attributing suffering to external circumstances, while subjects with no psychiatric disorder evoked similar themes, but with an introspective attitude. These analyses revealed contrasting attitudes towards incarceration. Further qualitative analyses were then performed to compare the responses of Severely Mentally Ill (SMI) subjects and subjects with no psychiatric disorder. Using a combination of these two approaches, seven categories of the subjective experience of prisoners in the sample were identified: the Outside World, Others, Punishment, Time, Affects and Impulses, Self-Concept, and Speech. Qualitative content analysis and computer-assisted linguistic analysis (using ALCESTE software) were performed on the textual data of open responses to three standard questions. On the basis of brief narrative responses collected during an epidemiological survey of the psychological health of prisoners in France, this study examined the impact of incarceration on psychological state in a group of 59 inmates serving long sentences. Prisoners’ views of incarceration and the meaning of this experience may affect their later adjustment to life in the community. Once convicted, the perpetrator of serious crime embarks upon a new journey: the challenge of adjusting to long-term imprisonment. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |