On Madness, Citizenship, and Social Justice

Arrigo, Bruce A.; Bersot, Heather Y.; Sellers, Brian G.

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372212.003.0001

Cited by 13 publications

(34 citation statements)

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“…In sum, examining solitary confinement and documenting its affects provides an important magnifying lens for understanding prison and its affects more broadly, not only in elucidating the mechanisms of harm, but also in developing responses to mitigate these harms. Ninety-five percent or more of all prisoners will eventually return home to our communities [ 4 , 5 ]; and many will have spent time in solitary confinement. Nearly one-in-five people in prison spends time in solitary confinement each year, and one-in-ten spends 30 days or more in these conditions [ 3 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The body in isolation: The physical health impacts of incarceration in solitary confinement

et al. 2020

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We examine how solitary confinement correlates with self-reported adverse physical health outcomes, and how such outcomes extend the understanding of the health disparities associated with incarceration. Using a mixed methods approach, we find that solitary confinement is associated not just with mental, but also with physical health problems. Given the disproportionate use of solitary among incarcerated people of color, these symptoms are most likely to affect those populations. Drawing from a random sample of prisoners (n = 106) in long-term solitary confinement in the Washington State Department of Corrections in 2017, we conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) assessments; and systematic reviews of medical and disciplinary files for these subjects. We also conducted a paper survey of the entire long-term solitary confinement population (n = 225 respondents) and analyzed administrative data for the entire population of prisoners in the state in 2017 (n = 17,943). Results reflect qualitative content and descriptive statistical analysis. BPRS scores reflect clinically significant somatic concerns in 15% of sample. Objective specification of medical conditions is generally elusive, but that, itself, is a highly informative finding. Using subjective reports, we specify and analyze a range of physical symptoms experienced in solitary confinement: (1) skin irritations and weight fluctuation associated with the restrictive conditions of solitary confinement; (2) untreated and mistreated chronic conditions associated with the restrictive policies of solitary confinement; (3) musculoskeletal pain exacerbated by both restrictive conditions and policies. Administrative data analyses reveal disproportionate rates of racial/ethnic minorities in solitary confinement. This analysis raises the stakes for future studies to evaluate comparative prevalence of objective medical diagnoses and potential causal mechanisms for the physical symptoms specified here, and for understanding differential use of solitary confinement and its medically harmful sequelae.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The body in isolation: The physical health impacts of incarceration in solitary confinement

et al. 2020

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“…Whether the focus of this type of ethics is predicated upon certain deontological principles related to one’s duty to ethical behavior or upon the results of certain utilitarian processes of ethical decision making, both remain firmly situated within a specific ontological frame of reference that legitimates the type of knowledge consistent to that system (Arrigo, Bersot, & Sellers, 2011; Millie, 2016; Williams & Arrigo, 2012). 2 However, it seems necessary to also recognize that these theoretical configurations of criminal behavior or the theorizing about the ethical nature of a given act are themselves vulnerable to the same conflating process discussed above concerning our knowledge about the act of crime and the implied ontological characteristics of the perpetrator.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In their text, The Ethics of Total Confinement: A Critique of Madness, Citizenship, and Social Justice , Arrigo et al (2011) explore the ethical implications imposed by institutional strategies of social control, which in turn normalizes various forms of violence, as these relate to the total confinement of inmate populations. The authors continue by observing,This violence is the power to harm, to deny another person their human dignity.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…This harm as denial can manifest itself through formal or informal mechanisms of restraint/surveillance (e.g., solitary confinement; the under-ground pariah economy of prisons), as well through conscious or unconscious belief systems (e.g., the mentally ill are diseased, deviant, and dangerous; juveniles who do the “crime” must do the “time”; sexually violent predators are less than human). (Arrigo et al, 2011, p. 3)…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In their critique of these socially constructed ontology-producing labels, Arrigo et al (2011) explore three of the most difficult of offender populations—the violent juvenile defendant who has been waived into adult court, the mentally ill inmate, and the violent sexual predator—relative to the ethical context involved with each. They situate their discussion within the context of Aristotle’s system of virtue ethics with particular emphasis upon Aristotle’s construct of human flourishing.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Impossibility of Criminal Justice Ethics: Toward a Phenomenology of the Possible

Polizzi

2018

Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol

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Regardless the specific theoretical perspective, all ethical formulations for criminal justice practice in some way construct the ontological character of the offender, which, in turn, situates both epistemology and method. How this ethical process ultimately constructs the offender will likely help to establish the degree of ethical worth such an individual is deemed worthy to receive. Whether based upon the seriousness of the crime or based upon the specific configuration of the architecture of incarceration, the very possibility of legitimate ethical practice is greatly compromised. Such results can be better avoided when the ethical import of the individual is ontologically situated within the very definition of what it means to be human. By situating this discussion within the context of the analytic psychology of Carl Jung and his concept of the shadow and the originary ethics of Martin Heidegger found in Being and Time, a more ontologically configured possibility for a criminal justice ethics can be recognized.

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Psychological Jurisprudence, Normative Philosophy, and Trans-Desistance Theory

Arrigo

2014

Criminal Justice and Behavior

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For more than two decades, the diagnostic and cultural insights of psychological jurisprudence (PJ) have informed social theory, clinical practice, and public policy. As a form of heterodox criticism, PJ probes the relationship between human agency and social structure, and it examines how both are informed by and co-produce extant reality. This article explores the utility of PJ—especially as a basis to reconfigure the problem of crime, to redefine institutional responses to it, and to reconceive the process of desistance. To accomplish this objective, the article addresses two issues. First, it explains how the diagnostic and cultural footing of PJ functions as philosophical critique concerning the subject of crime. Second, it demonstrates how this critique represents the grounding of an ethic with considerable relevance for developing a normative theory of trans-desistance. The article concludes by suggesting how the normative dimensions of trans-desistance portend dynamic change for future criminal justice practice and mental health treatment.

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On Madness, Citizenship, and Social Justice

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

The body in isolation: The physical health impacts of incarceration in solitary confinement

The body in isolation: The physical health impacts of incarceration in solitary confinement

The Impossibility of Criminal Justice Ethics: Toward a Phenomenology of the Possible

Psychological Jurisprudence, Normative Philosophy, and Trans-Desistance Theory

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