The mirror image of asylums and prisons: A study of institutionalization trends in France (1850–2010)

Abstract

This article analyzes trends in prison rates and mental hospital rates in France since the earliest available statistics. It shows that, on almost two centuries of data and amidst an agitated political history, every asylum trend in France is “countered” by an inverse prison trend, and vice-versa. Both trends are like a mirror image of each other. We reflect on the possible explanations for this intriguing fact and show that the most obvious ones (a population transfer or a building transfer) are not able to account for most of the relationship. After these explanations have been dismissed, we are left with an enigma with wide theoretical and practical implications. How is it that when prisons fall, asylums rise and when prison rise, asylums fall? We suggest possible research avenues drawing on the 1960s and 1970s critical literature on “total institutions” and offer implications for current theories of the “punitive turn” and current quantitative studies of prison rates.

The Development of a Prison Mental Health Unit in England: Understanding Realist Context(s)

“…Some of those interviewed touched on the complex debates around the functional interdependence of the criminal justice and mental health paradigms, and the transcarceral model of social controlthe shift in the control of the 'social threat' posed by the mentally ill between the health care system and the criminal justice systemor the 'prisons, the new asylums' argument (Abramson, 1972;Biles & Mulligan, 1973;Freeman & Roesch, 1989;Penrose, 1939;Torrey et al, 2010;Weller & Weller, 1988). While details in this debate are contested, for example there is no evidence to support arguments of a direct transfer of populations from hospital to prison following the closure of the asylum system in the UK (Fowles, 1993) or the USA (Steadman, Monahan, Duffee, Hartstone, & Robbins, 1984;Steadman & Morrissey, 1987), there is some evidence to support a broader 'criminalisation' hypothesis (Brinded, Grant, & Smith, 1995) or a 'continuity of confinement' argument (Raoult & Harcourt, 2017).…”

De quels troubles psychiatriques souffrent les personnes détenues en France ?

“…D'abord, la politique de « de ´sinstitutionnalisation » de la psychiatrie amorce ´e a `la fin du XX e sie `cle, ge ´re ´e en France comme une « de ´shospitalisation » (diminution du nombre de lits et re ´duction de la dure ´e des se ´jours a `l'ho ˆpital sans cre ´ation de services ouverts adapte ´s), a probablement participe ´a `l'incarce ´ration des personnes souffrant de troubles psychiatriques avec comorbidite ´s addictives et troubles du comportement, les moins inte ´gre ´es socialement, plus susceptibles de tomber dans un cercle vicieux « prison -rue -ho ˆpital psychiatrique » [46,87]. Plusieurs travaux ont effectivement pu montrer une corre ´lation inverse entre les taux d'hospitalisation en psychiatrie et les taux d'incarce ´ration dans diffe ´rentes re ´gions du monde [78,84,90].…”

Har det verkligen inte skett en straffande vändning?

“…RA framhåller riktigt att fängelseutvecklingen måste förstås i förhållande till utvecklingen av andra, liknande kontrollformer. Han hänvisar för detta argument till en studie som analyserar fängelseutvecklingen i Frankrike och USA i förhållande till utvecklingen av den slutna mentalsjukvården (Raoult & Harcourt 2017). Ett tydligt omvänt samband existerar, men författarna hittar inte någon rimlig förklaring.…”