Prisoners, Solitude, and Time (Clarendon Studies in Criminology)

Présentation de l'éditeur : "Examining two overlapping aspects of the prison experience that, despite their central importance, have not attracted the scholarly attention they deserve, this book assesses both the degree to which prisoners can withstand the rigours of solitude and how they experience the passing of time. In particular, it looks at how they deal with the potentially overwhelming prospect of a long, or even indefinite, period behind bars. While the deleterious effects of penal isolation are well known, little systematic attention has been given to the factors associated with surviving, and even triumphing over, prolonged exposure to solitary confinement. Through a re-examination of the roles of silence and separation in penal policy, and by contrasting the prisoner experience with that of individuals who have sought out institutional solitariness (for example as members of certain religious orders), and others who have found themselves held in solitary confinement although they committed no crime (such as hostages and some political prisoners), Prisoners, Solitude, and Time seeks to assess the impact of long-term isolation and the rationality of such treatment. In doing so, it aims to stimulate interest in a somewhat neglected aspect of the prisoner's psychological world. The book focuses on an aspect of the prison experience - time, its meanderings, measures, and meanings - that is seldom considered by academic commentators. Building upon prisoner narratives, academic critiques, official publications, personal communications, field visits, administrative statistics, reports of campaigning bodies, and other data, it presents a new framework for understanding the prison experience. The author concludes with a series of reflections on hope, the search for meaning, posttraumatic growth, and the art of living." Présentation de l'éditeur : "Examining two overlapping aspects of the prison experience that, despite their central importance, have not attracted the scholarly attention they deserve, this book assesses both the degree to which prisoners can withstand the rigours of solitude and how they experience the passing of time. In particular, it looks at how they deal with the potentially overwhelming prospect of a long, or even indefinite, period behind bars. While the deleterious effects of penal isolation are well known, little systematic attention has been given to the factors associated with surviving, and even triumphing over, prolonged exposure to solitary confinement. Through a re-examination of the roles of silence and separation in penal policy, and by contrasting the prisoner experience with that of individuals who have sought out institutional solitariness (for example as members of certain religious orders), and others who have found themselves held in solitary confinement although they committed no crime (such as hostages and some political prisoners), Prisoners, Solitude, and Time seeks to assess the impact of long-term isolation and the rationality of such treatment. In doing so, it aims to stimulate interest in a somewhat neglected aspect of the prisoner's psychological world. The book focuses on an aspect of the prison experience - time, its meanderings, measures, and meanings - that is seldom considered by academic commentators. Building upon prisoner narratives, academic critiques, official publications, personal communications, field visits, administrative statistics, reports of campaigning bodies, and other data, it presents a new framework for understanding the prison experience. The author concludes with a series of reflections on hope, the search for meaning, posttraumatic growth, and the art of living." Cover; Series; Prisoners, Solitude, and Time; Copyright; Preface; Contents; List of Tables; 1 Historical Perspectives; Chatter and its Discontents; The Architecture of Isolation; Debate and Dissent; The Model Prison; A 'maniac-making system'?; The Hard Cell of Solitude; 2 Reconsidering the Effects of Silence and Separation; Madness becomes Visible; Madness is Misattributed; Adaptation and Fearing the Unknown; Subterfuge; Rewriting Dickens; Extending Temporal Parameters; Then and Now; 3 The (Certain) Pains and (Uncertain) Pleasures of Solitude; Studies of the Solitary Prisoner 7 Lockdown, Infamy, and Inhuman RelationsMurder and Mayhem; Dramatis Personae; An Ecology of Cruelty; Victim Precipitation; Where to From Here?; 8 Time Passes, Inescapably; Calling Time to Account; Time Flies, in Retrospect; Chronophobia; Styles of Time Usage; Clock Time and Prison Time; 9 Critical Fractions: Life Lived and Life Left; The Pain Quotient; An Adjustment Curve; Structuring Prison Time; Threats to the Self; The Erosion of Memory; 10 Taming Time and Reframing Isolation; Rescheduling; Removal; Reduction; Reorientation; Resistance; Raptness; Reinterpretation The Social ImperativeThe Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs of Being Alone; When Isolation is Invited; Crippling Lethargy; Silent and Solitary Virtues; 4 Pathological Loneliness; Accidie; Barbed Wire Disease; Winter-over Syndrome; Capsules and Frontiers; Wilderness Narratives; Interim Conclusion; 5 The Apotheosis of Solitary Confinement; Separation Redux (and Redoubled); Measuring Madness; Claim and Counterclaim; Carceral Creep?; 6 Making the SHU Fit (for Purpose); Recidivism; Staying Alive; Degrees of Isolation; 'Fetters of iron' Without 'cords of love' 1. Historical Perspectives -- 2. Reconsidering The Effects Of Silence And Separation -- 3. The (certain) Pains And (uncertain) Pleasures Of Solitude -- 4. Pathological Loneliness -- 5. The Apotheosis Of Solitary Confinement -- 6. Making The Shu Fit (for Purpose) -- 7. Lockdown, Infamy, And Inhuman Relations -- 8. Time Passes, Inescapably -- 9. Critical Fractions: Life Lived And Life Left -- 10. Taming Time And Reframing Isolation -- 11. Withstanding Time's Abrasion. Ian O'donnell. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 289-312) And Index. 11 Withstanding Time's AbrasionEarly Adapters; Seeking Refuge in a Supreme Being; The Buoyancy of Hope; Post-traumatic Growth; The Art of Living; Closing the Circle; Coda; Appendix; References; Index