Citation

Golovine P. Psychotr. (Paris) 2004; 10(3-4): 187-197.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, de Boeck Universite, Publisher De Boeck Université)

DOI

10.3917/psyt.103.0187

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A totalitarian ideology is at the foundation of the prison institution and the violence that it allows depends on the way staff members manage their own power. Thus, the psychologists' activity in prisons is influenced by both individual and institutional relationships. For some drug users, the institution fosters an encounter with a therapist, who may then propose a therapeutic project adapted to both the patient and the settings. Our approach is to try to make patients enjoy self-questioning so that they may view the psychological approach not as an intellectual space from which they are excluded but as an original way of discovering themselves. Bringing a sense of welcome, support, psychotherapy, prevention of suicide, preparation to prison leave, help to the dying, etc., such varied situations push psychologists to constantly re-invent their interventions and reconsider their position and practices from the point of views of ethics and ideology.

Language: fr