Preventing or inflicting risks? Carceral riskscapes and working in the spaces of mental health care

Abstract

This study participates in the discussion on risks and carceral spaces, and furthermore, introduces the concept of carceral riskscape. Since there is a strong, but less studied connection between risk and the carceral, this study combines these concepts to provide a new viewpoint on the mechanisms that create carceral spaces. Riskscapes represent spaces embedded with risk and they are usually referred to in connection with health or environmental hazards. The emphasis in this study is on the carceral riskscapes that working communities face in institutional premises. The study analyses the working culture of a geropsychiatric ward in Turku, Finland. Some of the staff members allegedly mistreated the patients and some of the carceral practices were also targeted at co-workers. The research is qualitative in nature and analyses documents from the inner reports to the trial documents. The findings of the study suggest that the relationships between staff members are significant in the context of carceral riskscapes. Furthermore, the carceral riskscapes cause inequalities and have influence on the well-being of the staff members as well as the quality of care.

Carceralities and Approved Gender Violence: The Case of Direct Provision in Ireland

“…Carceral practices are widespread in modern society, even to the extent that researchers talk about carceral age [18,20]. This carcerality has spread out from the prison to, for example, institutions of care [21][22][23][24][25][26][27] and to practices concerning immigrants and refugees [20,[28][29][30][31].…”

Patient Safety and People Who Are Incarcerated

“…Such spaces are increasingly seen to include not only places of formal imprisonment but various institutional spaces that may have 'secure' facilities and associated features [e.g. 33,34]. These may be both formalised and informal (e.g.…”

Tilalliset käytännöt muistisairaiden henkilöiden ympärivuorokautisessa hoivassa

“…kuitenkin Repo 2019a; Loughnan 2022). Vankeusmaantiede on saanut alkunsa vankilatutkimuksesta (Moran 2015), mutta on sittemmin laajentunut koskemaan myös hoivan tiloja, kuten orpokoteja (Disney 2015(Disney , 2017, alaikäisten varmuusosastoja (Schliehe 2014) ja psykiatrisia osastoja (Repo 2019b(Repo , 2020Berghout ym. 2021).…”

“…Riskien kohtaaminen arjessa vaatii tasapainottelua vahingon ja hyödyn välillä (Furedi 2006;Tierney 2014). Hoivatyössä riskien punnitsemisella ja ennakoinnilla arkipäiväisessä elämässä on suuri merkitys työntekijöiden arjen kannalta (Repo 2020). Kun tiukkoja rajoituksia ei ole, tilanteet vaativat jatkuvaa riskien punnitsemista ja harkitsemista työntekijöiden taholta, mikä saattaa lisätä työn kuormittavuutta (ks.…”