 Reading the Signs: Prison Officers’ Mindful Diagnosis of Potential Self-Harm and SuicideAnita Wilson Chapter 2 in Ethnographies of Diagnostic Work, 2010, pp 17-34 from Palgrave Macmillan Abstract: Abstract When this journal entry was made I had already been working with people in prison for a number of years — something I continue to do. Back in 1995, diagnostic work was not my primary focus, nor was the prevention of self-harm and suicide, yet each of these was embedded in wider ethnographies. The reception process described above, where prison staff were concerned with identifying perceived vulnerability at a specific point in time, is one example of this. Another example from daily prison life could be a comment by a member of staff that someone appeared to be ‘looking better’ or ‘needed to be kept an eye on’. Diagnosis is still not my primary concern, but as I consider the extent and depth to which I have become familiar with the prison system and its members, it appears that aspects of diagnosis run like threads through many prison activities and practices. This is no more apparent than in prison officers’ capacity to manage prisoners’ perceived ability (or inability) to survive and cope with institutional life. Keywords: Mindfulness Meditation; Prison Population; Diagnostic Work; Prison Officer; Prison Staff (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-29693-0_2 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan |
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