Abstract
Purpose
Imprisonment is associated with far-reaching restrictions of personal autonomy, which critically depends on the sense of agency (SoA), i.e. the experience of control over one’s own actions and the consequences of these actions. Lack of personal choice and coercion to engage in specific actions disrupt the neurocognitive basis of SoA, which can have a profound impact on social behaviour, self-reliance and well-being. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to address the relationship between autonomy, choice restrictions and SoA in prisoners and the ability to reenter society after release.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper integrates existing empirical evidence from research on the role of personal autonomy and lack of freedom in prison and recent research using neurocognitive methods to study the processes underlying the effects of choice restrictions and coercion on SoA.
Findings
Building on prior empirical observations, the authors suggest that investigating how and when imprisonment undermines SoA through the restriction of personal choice can provide valuable insights into prisoners’ challenges in regulating and organizing their behavior and to accommodate the rules of society.
Originality/value
This conceptual paper offers directions for future research to further our understanding of autonomy restrictions on SoA in prison and its downstream consequences for societal reintegration.
Imprisonment is associated with far-reaching restrictions of personal autonomy, which critically depends on the sense of agency (SoA), i.e. the experience of control over one’s own actions and the consequences of these actions. Lack of personal choice and coercion to engage in specific actions disrupt the neurocognitive basis of SoA, which can have a profound impact on social behaviour, self-reliance and well-being. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to address the relationship between autonomy, choice restrictions and SoA in prisoners and the ability to reenter society after release.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper integrates existing empirical evidence from research on the role of personal autonomy and lack of freedom in prison and recent research using neurocognitive methods to study the processes underlying the effects of choice restrictions and coercion on SoA.
Findings
Building on prior empirical observations, the authors suggest that investigating how and when imprisonment undermines SoA through the restriction of personal choice can provide valuable insights into prisoners’ challenges in regulating and organizing their behavior and to accommodate the rules of society.
Originality/value
This conceptual paper offers directions for future research to further our understanding of autonomy restrictions on SoA in prison and its downstream consequences for societal reintegration.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 381-393 |
| Journal | Journal of Criminal Psychology |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 7 Aug 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 27 Nov 2023 |
Funding
Funding : This publication is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), project nr 406.18.GO.047. Conflict of interest : There are no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report. Ethics approval : No ethical approval was required. Data availability : Data sharing not applicable to this article as no data sets were generated or analysed during the current study. Author contributions : JMAD and HA conceived the idea and performed the literature search. JMA and HA wrote the final manuscript with input from JMH and AJED. Funding: This publication is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), project nr 406.18.GO.047.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| AJED | |
| James Merrill House | |
| Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | 406.18 |