Prison and the brain: Neuropsychological research in the light of the European Convention on Human Rights

Abstract

Prison is by its nature a deliberately impoverished environment, with few physical, mental and social activities. Various studies have shown negative effects of an impoverished environment on animal as well as human brain functions. A recent study in a Dutch remand prison showed that brain functions connected with self-regulation decline after 3 months of imprisonment. Reduced self-regulation appears to be a risk factor for recidivism. In this article, we examine the legal implications of these neuropsychological findings in a European context. Firstly, we analyse these results in the light of the principle of rehabilitation as interpreted in case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Secondly, we explore how the neuropsychological insights could be relevant in the context of the prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)). We argue that if the impoverished prison environment hampers rehabilitation, states are positively obliged to take appropriate measures to counter these effects. Ultimately, negative effects on brain functioning by impoverished prison environments could even raise an issue under Article 3 ECHR. Furthermore, we argue that neuropsychological insights have to be taken into account when establishing the threshold according to which the European Court on Human Rights judges prison conditions. We conclude that in the light of these considerations further research on the neuropsychological effects of the prison environment is required.

Is Virtually Everything Possible? The Relevance of Ethics and Human Rights for Introducing Extended Reality in Forensic Psychiatry

“…5 That is, punishment for the sake of punishment, solely by reference to one's past criminal offense. 6 (Ligthart et al 2019a;Meijer 2017). This obligation is one of means, not of result.…”

“…One should bear in mind that prison is a deliberately impoverished environment. Regardless of the imposed regime or security level, it entails physical, mental, and social inactiveness of detainees (Ligthart et al 2019a). Various studies have depicted the negative effects that an impoverished environment has on human brain functions and human flourishing.…”

Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA): A validation study among prisoners

“…this study with prisoners lacks that analysis. As prisoners show a tendency towards cognitive vulnerabilities (Ligthart et al, 2019;Meijers et al, 2018;Ogilvie et al, 2011), more studies are needed that focus on validating psychological assessment instruments for prison settings and exploring the benefits of restorative justice approaches.…”

Neurosociology and Penal Neuroabolitionism: Rethinking Justice With Neuroscience

“…According to research from the World Health Organization, within prisons the prevalence of mental disorders is significantly higher than in the general population (Durcan and Zwemstra, 2014) and it has also been suggested that there are ten times more individuals with a mental disorder in jail than in mental hospitals in the United States (Torrey et al, 2014;Semenza & Grosholz, 2019). Instead of fulfilling a positive function, the prison impoverished environments could end up violating minimum human rights standards (Ligthart et al, 2019), and even become criminogenic factors (Vieraitis et al, 2007;Cid, 2009;Cullen et al, 2011;Meijers et al, 2018;Wallace and Wang, 2020).…”