I. Is My Work `Feminist' Enough? Tensions and Dilemmas in Researching Male Prisoners who Self-harm (original) (raw)

2007, Feminism & Psychology

here is a clear link between the pain of imprisonment and harm (as selfinflicted injury or suicide). .. it is crucial that the reality of this pain and its consequences are reflected in research. (Liebling, 1995: 183) In focusing my PhD research on the issue of self-harm in prisons, my political agenda was-and remains-to increase awareness of the extent of this 'problem', and of the role of the criminal justice system in 'creating' self-injury. In turn, I hoped that this would stimulate discussion, as well as action, in relation to the functions, (over)uses and abuses of imprisonment. Both theoretically and philosophically, my work was located within the wider literature on the effects of imprisonment (Liebling and Maruna, 2005; Sykes, 1958). A basic premise of this body of research is that, notwithstanding the alleged 'risk' and 'vulnerability' of people in custody (which are in themselves problematic), 'the ethos of an establishment, how inmates are treated, will determine the amount of self-injury' (HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, 1990, quoted in Howard League, 2001: 1). Within this popular framework, self-harm has been conceptualized as a way of coping with the harms and 'pains' of imprisonment, and thus constructed as a test of the 'health', 'moral performance' and 'legitimacy' of our prisons and criminal justice system (Liebling et al., 2005). This, in turn, locates prisoner self-harm within a liberal, deontological discourse, which emphasizes the 'humanity' of all prisoners and hence their right to be treated with decency, respect and fairness, regardless of their alleged crimes. As argued by Carlen and Worrall (2004), to do so is not only 'justified in terms of "outcomes" (preventing suicide, reducing re-offending, and so on)', but, more importantly, is 'good in itself ' (emphasis in original, p. 50). Therefore, to research and 'care'