Doing Indefinite Time: An Ethnography of Long-Term Imprisonment in Switzerland

Description

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. 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 4.3.2.1 Transforming the Cell into ‘a Home’ 4.3.2.2 The Cell as ‘a Place to Be, but not to Live’ 4.4 Personal Spaces, Privacy and Intimacy 4.4.1 The Role of Prison Staff 4.4.2 Controlling Access to Personal Territories 4.4.3 Catching the Right Moment 4.4.4 Protecting the Boundaries of the Self 4.4.5 Experiencing Closeness and Intimacy 4.5 Being with Time 4.5.1 Killing Time 4.5.2 Marking Time 4.5.3 Using Time 4.5.4 Transcending the Here and Now 4.6 Conclusion References 5 At Work 5.1 Work in Swiss Prisons 5.2 Physical and Mental (Im)mobility 5.3 ‘Less Prison-Like’ Spaces 5.4 Repetition and Monotony 5.5 Seeking Individuality and Social Belonging 5.5.1 Being ‘an Expert’, ‘the Man for All Cases’ 5.5.2 Being Trustworthy 5.5.2.1 Being Granted More Autonomy and Responsibility 5.5.2.2 ‘Bypassing’ Internal Rules 5.5.2.3 Having Access to Exclusive and ‘Untouched’ Places 5.5.2.4 Feeling Heard by Prison Management 5.5.3 Being a ‘Simple’ Prisoner 5.6 Conclusion References 6 During Leisure Time 6.1 Leisure Time in Swiss Prisons 6.2 In the Courtyard: Sensing the Outside World 6.2.1 Having Access to ‘Nature’ 6.2.2 Encountering ‘a Little Piece of Freedom’ 6.3 Connecting with People from the Outside World 6.3.1 Receiving Visitors: When the Inside and the Outside Worlds Blur and Collide 6.3.1.1 Expecting Visitors: ‘Highlights’ to Look Forward To 6.3.1.2 Entering the Visiting Room 6.3.1.3 Managing Temporariness 6.3.1.4 Performing and Experiencing the (Non-)Prisoner Self 6.3.1.5 The ‘Prisoners’ Oasis’ 6.3.1.6 Leaving the Visiting Room 6.3.2 Letters and Phone Calls 6.4 Blurring Physical and Social Boundaries During Sports 6.4.1 Feeling and Using One’s Body 6.4.2 Experiencing Encounters Between ‘Human Beings’ 6.5 Escaping Spatio-Temporal Stasis Through Education and Training 6.5.1 Tracing the Rhythms of the Outside World—And Finding One’s Own 6.5.2 ‘Playing Through Certain Emotional States’ 6.6 Events Out of the Ordinary 6.7 Going on Release on Temporary License 6.8 Conclusion References 7 Conclusion 7.1 To Apprehend ‘the Prison’ as It Is Lived 7.2 Public and Political Pressure, Institutional Indecisiveness, Challenged and Challenging Prison Staff 7.3 Shifting Between Continued Hope and Resignation 7.4 Maintaining a Sense of Self and Personal Integrity 7.5 Searching for Normalcy, Social Belonging and Individuality 7.6 Balancing on the Boundary Between Freedom and Captivity 7.7 Final Thoughts from the Other Side of the Prison Wall References Index