Search results

This open access book provides insights into the everyday lives of long-term prisoners in Switzerland who are labelled as 'dangerous' and are preventatively held in indefinite, probably lifelong, incarceration. It explores prisoners' manifold ways of inhabiting the prison which can be used to challenge well established notions about the experience of imprisonment, such as 'adaptation', 'coping', and 'resistance'. Drawing on ethnographic data generated in two high-security prisons housing male offenders, this book explores how the various spaces of the prison affect prisoners' sense of self and experience of time, and how, in particular, the indeterminate nature of their imprisonment affects their perceptions of place and space. It sheds light on prisoners' subjective, emplaced and embodied perceptions of the prisons' various everyday time-spaces in the cell, at work, and during leisure time, and the forms of agency they express. It provides insight into prisoners' everyday habits, practices, routines, and rhythms as well as the profoundly existential issues that are engendered, (re)arranged, and anchored in these everyday contexts. It also offers insights into the penal policies, norms, and practices developed and followed by prison authorities and staff.

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- List of Figures -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Observing, Listening and Engaging in Prisoners' Everyday Lives -- 1.1.1 'Being There' -- 1.1.1.1 Gaining Access to the Prison: The Formal Organization of My Fieldwork -- 1.1.1.2 Gaining Access Within the Prison: Establishing and Maintaining Trust -- 1.1.2 Face-to-Face Interviews -- 1.1.3 Walking Interviews -- 1.1.4 Documents -- 1.2 Structure of the Book -- References -- 2 Indefinite Confinement in Switzerland -- 2.1 Legal Framework and Penal Policy -- 2.1.1 Article 64 and Article 59: Indefinite Confinement in the Swiss Criminal Code -- 2.1.2 High-Risk Offenders: Identifying Individuals Posing a 'Danger to the Public' -- 2.1.3 Institutional Placement and Handling of 'Dangerous' Offenders -- 2.2 Key Actors -- 2.2.1 Penal Enforcement Authorities: Placing and Managing Prisoners -- 2.2.2 Prison Management: Accommodating Prisoners -- 2.2.3 Prison Staff: Daily Dealings with Prisoners -- 2.3 The Sentenced Prisoners -- 2.3.1 Facing Indeterminacy -- 2.3.2 Living in an Ever-Same Present -- 2.4 Conclusion -- References -- 3 Space, Time, Embodiment -- 3.1 The Prison as an Inhabited Time-Space -- 3.1.1 The Prison Regime: A Formal Set of Arrangements of Space and Time -- 3.1.2 Inhabiting the Prison: Prisoners' Lived Experiences -- 3.1.2.1 Bodily Experiences of Space and Time -- 3.1.2.2 Doing with Space and Time -- 3.1.3 Conclusion -- References -- 4 In the Prison Cell -- 4.1 The Swiss Prison Cell -- 4.2 Descriptions of the cell's Ambiance -- 4.2.1 Architecture, Design and Furnishings -- 4.2.2 Prison Environment -- 4.2.3 Prison Surroundings -- 4.3 A 'Home' or 'a Place to Be, but not to Live' -- 4.3.1 The prison's Accommodation Regime -- 4.3.1.1 The Right to Arrange the Cell in a 'Homely' Way -- 4.3.1.2 The Obligation to Keep It 'Tidy and Clean' -- 4.3.2 Arranging the Cell.

This open access book provides insights into the everyday lives of long-term prisoners in Switzerland who are labelled as 'dangerous' and are preventatively held in indefinite, probably lifelong, incarceration. It explores prisoners' manifold ways of inhabiting the prison which can be used to challenge well established notions about the experience of imprisonment, such as 'adaptation', 'coping', and 'resistance'. Drawing on ethnographic data generated in two high-security prisons housing male offenders, this book explores how the various spaces of the prison affect prisoners' sense of self and experience of time, and how, in particular, the indeterminate nature of their imprisonment affects their perceptions of place and space. It sheds light on prisoners' subjective, emplaced and embodied perceptions of the prisons' various everyday time-spaces in the cell, at work, and during leisure time, and the forms of agency they express. It provides insight into prisoners' everyday habits, practices, routines, and rhythms as well as the profoundly existential issues that are engendered, (re)arranged, and anchored in these everyday contexts. It also offers insights into the penal policies, norms, and practices developed and followed by prison authorities and staff. Irene Marti is a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for Penal Law and Criminology at the University of Bern and at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology at the University of Basel, Switzerland. Since 2013, she has been a member of the Prison Research Group at the University of Bern.

In recent years, scholars have come to agree that 'total institutions' are in general more permeable than as outlined in prior studies. The idea of the 'totality' of prisons has been challenged, for example, by acknowledging the penetration of the outside world through media or external visitors. However, prison surroundings are often a topic that is not granted a lot of attention. Using ethnographic data on the everyday lives of prisoners sentenced to indefinite incarceration in Switzerland, this article explores long-term prisoners' sensory perceptions of the outside world, in particular through hearing, seeing and smelling. It is argued that this affects not only the prisoners' understanding of 'the prison' but also their experience of time and their sense of self. A closer look at their diverse ways of dealing with these (potential) connections to the outside world reveals their individual approaches to the indefinite nature of their incarceration.

This contribution provides insight into the experiences of time of prisoners sentenced to indefi nite incarceration. It is argued here that in contrast to prisoners serving fi nite sentences, for these prisoners it is no longer mainly about doing time in prison but also about (actively) doing with time, since the time in prison becomes (most probably) their remaining lifetime. Moreover, to concentrate on the present instead of their uncertain future helps them to ease the pains of indefi nite imprisonment; however, this mode of being with time requires acceptance of their situation and to let go of their former selves.

Das Projekt "unabhängige Beratungsstelle für Menschen im Freiheitsentzug und ihre Angehörigen" wurde 2017 von humanrights.ch für eine voraussichtlich dreijährige Pilotphase im Kanton Bern ins Leben gerufen und hat zum Ziel und Zweck, Menschen im Freiheitsentzug und ihren Angehörigen Zugang zu einer unabhängigen kompetenten Rechtsberatung zu verschaffen. So werden die Grundrechte dieser marginalisierten sozialen Gruppe gestärkt und die zuständigen Anstaltsleitungen und Behörden im Hinblick auf systemisch bedingte Schwachstellen im Grund- rechtsschutz sensibilisiert. Das Projekt soll zukünftig auf weitere Kantone ausgeweitet werden. Die Evaluation dauerte vom 1. Juni 2019 bis zum 31. Juli 2019 und fragte nach der Einhaltung der Menschenrechte im Freiheitsentzug, dem Bedarf einer unabhängigen Rechtsberatung, der Qualität der Arbeit der Beratungsstelle gemäss der Wahrnehmung verschiedener Anspruchsgruppen und eruierte potentielle Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten.

Menschen im Freiheitsentzug können nicht frei bestimmen, wie und wo sie sterben. Die Thematik des würdevollen Sterbens erfordert daher im Justizvollzug spezielle Aufmerksamkeit. Auf der Grundlage eines Forschungsprojekts stellt das Buch die Perspektiven der verschiedenen Beteiligten dar: Erfahrungen, Fragen, Bedürfnisse, Befürchtungen und Visionen von Gefangenen, Mitarbeitenden und Behörden werden anhand von Material aus Interviews und Beobachtungen anschaulich dargestellt. Die verschiedenen Etappen bis zum Lebensende und zum Tod werden aufgezeigt und aus der Sicht der Forschenden kommentiert.