For the Longest Time: The Adjustment of Inmates to a Sentence of Life Without Parole

Leigey, Margaret E.

doi:10.1177/0032885510373490

Cited by 19 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Mais que faire si un tel régime fait défaut ? Des détenus condamnés à des peines à perpétuité sans possibilité de libération ont décrit leurs diffi cultés à contrôler leur colère et leurs pensées, à dormir, à vaincre un état d'engourdissement et d'anxiété permanent (Leigey, 2010). Ils décrivent la prison comme un cimetière, leur cellule comme un tombeau (Johnson et MacGunigall-Smith, 2008).…”

Section: Affections Neuropsychiques (Y Compris Psychiatriques)unclassified

Demandes d’euthanasie dans les prisons belges. Entre souffrance psychique, dignité humaine et peine de mort

Snacken

Devynck

Distelmans

et al. 2015

crimino

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En Belgique, l’euthanasie peut être appliquée légalement par des médecins à la demande expresse et répétée d’un patient qui se trouve dans une situation médicale sans issue et fait état d’une souffrance physique ou psychique constante et insupportable qui ne peut être apaisée et qui résulte d’une affection accidentelle ou pathologique grave et incurable. Au cours des deux dernières années, 17 demandes d’euthanasie ont été formulées par des détenus belges pour cause de souffrance psychique insupportable. Ils purgent tous une longue peine de prison ou une mesure de protection pour malades mentaux à durée indéterminée. Les auteurs examinent les questions éthiques, juridiques et criminologiques soulevées par ces demandes, car si les normes nationales et internationales garantissent aux détenus un droit à l’équivalence des soins médicaux, l’impact potentiel du contexte pénitentiaire sur leur souffrance psychique doit être pris en compte.Belgium is one of three countries in the world where euthanasia can legally be used by physicians at the explicit and repeated request of a patient who is in a hopeless medical situation and experiencing unbearable and continued physical or mental pain and suffering that cannot be relieved and is the result of a serious and incurable injury or pathological condition. Over the last two years, 17 requests for euthanasia due to unbearable mental suffering were made by inmates in Belgium. All inmates were either purging a long prison sentence or a indeterminate protection measure for mentally ill offenders. The authors examine the ethical, legal and criminological issues raised by these cases. Indeed, while both national and international human rights standards guarantee inmates the right to equal medical care, the potential impact of the prison context on their mental suffering must be taken into account.En Bélgica, la eutanasia puede ser aplicada legalmente por médicos, bajo la petición expresa y repetida de un paciente que se encuentre en una situación médica sin esperanza y que esté en estado de sufrimiento físico y psíquico constante e insoportable, que no pueda ser aliviado y que resulte de un trastorno accidental o patológico grave e incurable. Durante los dos últimos años, 17 peticiones de eutanasia fueron formuladas por detenidos belgas por causa de un sufrimiento físico insoportable. Todos ellos están pagando largas penas o tienen una medida de protección para enfermos mentales de duración indeterminada. Los autores examinan las cuestiones éticas, legales y criminológicas planteadas por estas peticiones, porque si las normes nacionales e internacionales les garantizan a los detenidos un derecho a la equivalencia de la atención médica, el impacto potencial del contexto penitenciario sobre el sufrimiento psíquico debe ser tenido en cuenta

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Section: Affections Neuropsychiques (Y Compris Psychiatriques)unclassified

Demandes d’euthanasie dans les prisons belges. Entre souffrance psychique, dignité humaine et peine de mort

Snacken

Devynck

Distelmans

et al. 2015

crimino

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show abstract

“…I'll never feel that emotion again' (p. 11). Mental health prior to incarceration and when newly incarcerated (Leigey, 2009) Sources of dissatisfaction (Abraham, 2011) Hope based on legal changes (Abraham, 2011) Life in prison as punishment (Johnson & McGunigall-Smith, 2008) Pains of life imprisonment (Johnson & McGunigall-Smith, 2008) Punishment, ruined lives, and the limits of retribution (Johnson & McGunigall-Smith, 2008) Coping with reality Exercising personal choice Keeping a positive outlook Forging meaning Positive forces (Abraham, 2011) Achieving autonomy (Johnson & Dobrzanska, 2005) Achieving security (Johnson & Dobrzanska, 2005) Caring for self and others (Johnson & Dobrzanska, 2005) Adjusting to the LWOP sentence (Leigey, 2009) Discovering resilience…”

Section: Grieving For a Life Lostmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adjusting to a life in prison (Johnson & McGunigall-Smith, 2008) Current state of mental health (Leigey, 2009) Occasional contact with family and friends is valued by prisoners but also experienced with a wistfulness that reflects the underlying sense of loss: I don't want to go out there and be reminded of what I'm never going to have again. And then it makes coming back in here twice as bad because when you're out there in an environment where people are halfway normal, but where there is no madness, violence, or homosexuality and where it's halfway normal and I would come back in and it makes this place seem all that much worse.…”

Section: Grieving For a Life Lostmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among LWOP prisoners, this acceptance arrives with varying levels of hope. While prisoners did not experience acceptance of their sentence joyfully, Leigey (2009) observes that 'the men were no longer consumed by thoughts of their previous misdeeds nor were they overly focused on the length of time they had been incarcerated' (p. 261).…”

Section: Grieving For a Life Lostmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the meaning of life: A qualitative interpretive meta synthesis of the lived experience of life without parole

Sliva

2014

Journal of Social Work

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This Qualitative Interpretive Meta Synthesis (QIMS) develops a more complete understanding of the lived experience of serving a Life Without Parole (LWOP) sentence by synthesizing the results of existing qualitative studies focused on this population. The four studies selected for this QIMS contain interviews with 86 male prisoners serving a sentence of LWOP. The current synthesis uses phenomenology and grounded theory as methods to obtain a new understanding from the limited data on this specialized vulnerable population.Findings: The conceptual model emerging from this QIMS indicates that prisoners experience the sentence of LWOP with feelings of deep loss which mimic the grief response of the dying patient as described by Kubler-Ross (1969). Upon the initial shock of sentencing and imprisonment, inmates pass through stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and ultimately, acceptance. In order to cope with the harsh reality of life imprisonment, 'lifers' find ways to exercise personal choice, keep a positive outlook, and forge meaning from their sufferings. Those who are successful in these tasks discover great resilience.Applications: This synthesis suggests that the application of grief and resilience theories may be relevant with prisoners and other similarly marginalized populations coping with extraordinary loss of self. Given the potential of inmates in this study to discover personal resilience and engage in attempts at social reconciliation, policy makers should consider whether a sentence of LWOP shortchanges both inmates and society.

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“…In addition, women have increased difficulties with separation from children and family during incarceration because of the location of the relatively few prisons for women, which makes visiting less likely (liebling, 1994;. there is also evidence that women's prisons, in comparison to men's prisons, offer fewer educational, medical, and vocational services (themeli, 2006) and are more overcrowded (Grossman, 1992 (Johnson & Dobrzanaka, 2005;leigey, 2010;ruddell, Broom, & young, 2010;thompson & loper, 2005). however, women who arrive to prison with a life sentence are often in a state of shock, denial, and numbness (George, 2010;Welch, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I Just Wanted to Die”

Dye¹,

Aday

2013

Criminal Justice and Behavior

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For women serving life sentences, adjustments to prison are often marked by thoughts of suicide. Many enter prison with specific vulnerabilities that place them at risk for suicide. using data on 214 female lifers, the authors examined the extent of suicide ideation prior to incarceration as well as current suicide ideation. the relationships between preprison abuse, mental health indicators, prison adjustment factors, prison and family supports, and time served along with sociodemographic variables were analyzed with respect to four categories of preprison and current suicide ideation. Multinomial logistic regression results indicated significant group differences in suicide ideation for abuse histories, depression, family and prison supports, and education level. Among the preprison ideation groups, current depression-not abuse history-distinguished between women with or without current ideation. that is, the way women coped with past abuse was a stronger predictor of current suicide ideation than abuse itself.

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For the Longest Time: The Adjustment of Inmates to a Sentence of Life Without Parole

Cited by 19 publications

References 29 publications

Demandes d’euthanasie dans les prisons belges. Entre souffrance psychique, dignité humaine et peine de mort

Demandes d’euthanasie dans les prisons belges. Entre souffrance psychique, dignité humaine et peine de mort

On the meaning of life: A qualitative interpretive meta synthesis of the lived experience of life without parole

“I Just Wanted to Die”

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