TY - JOUR

T1 - Honour and respect in Danish prisons

T2 - Contesting ‘cognitive distortions’ in cognitive-behavioural programmes

AU - Laursen, Julie

AU - Laws, Ben

PY - 2017/1/1

Y1 - 2017/1/1

N2 - Using empirical data from prison-based cognitive-behavioural programmes, this article considers how prisoners’ subcultural capital shapes their responses to demands for ‘cognitive self-change’. We argue that accounts of ‘respect’ in the prior literature fail to capture how prisoners react to these programmes, and that a discussion of honour (and what we term ‘respect plus’) needs to be incorporated. The empirical material derives from four different cognitive-behavioural programme setups in three Danish prisons and semi-structured interviews with participants and course instructors. By attempting to create accountable and rational actors, who ‘self-manage’, the therapeutic ethos neglects participants’ life experiences and subcultural capital. Open expressions of moral values by prisoners (such as displays of honour and respect) are considered to be cognitive distortions which are dismissed by instructors, while alternative and ‘correct’ thinking styles are prescribed. Our findings advance understandings of the meanings of honour and respect in prisons in general and in cognitive-behavioural programmes in particular.

AB - Using empirical data from prison-based cognitive-behavioural programmes, this article considers how prisoners’ subcultural capital shapes their responses to demands for ‘cognitive self-change’. We argue that accounts of ‘respect’ in the prior literature fail to capture how prisoners react to these programmes, and that a discussion of honour (and what we term ‘respect plus’) needs to be incorporated. The empirical material derives from four different cognitive-behavioural programme setups in three Danish prisons and semi-structured interviews with participants and course instructors. By attempting to create accountable and rational actors, who ‘self-manage’, the therapeutic ethos neglects participants’ life experiences and subcultural capital. Open expressions of moral values by prisoners (such as displays of honour and respect) are considered to be cognitive distortions which are dismissed by instructors, while alternative and ‘correct’ thinking styles are prescribed. Our findings advance understandings of the meanings of honour and respect in prisons in general and in cognitive-behavioural programmes in particular.

KW - cognitive-behavioural programmes

KW - honour

KW - prisons

KW - respect

KW - subcultural capital

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85009227674&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/1462474516649175

DO - 10.1177/1462474516649175

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85009227674

VL - 19

SP - 74

EP - 95

JO - Punishment and Society

JF - Punishment and Society

SN - 1462-4745

IS - 1

ER -