Cronograma del Proyecto

The final process of adjustment was labelled ‘locating the experience’. This process related to the place individuals’ experiences of prison seemed to occupy in their minds at the time o f the follow ups, subsequent to their release.

The continuum

forgetting versus remembering

Forgetting versus Remembering

An important continuum emerged during post-release accounts regarding the extent to which participants had remembered or looked back on their experiences o f prison, or tended to forget them.

The point along the continuum at which participants positioned themselves was sometimes hard to ascertain in practice however. Simple questions such as ‘Do you ever look back on your time inside?’ occasionally elicited responses which appeared somewhat contradictory with statements participants had made at other points during their post-release interviews.

In spite o f these difficulties, several participants were judged overall to have forgotten

the experience to all intent and purposes. All o f these individuals suggested that they no longer thought about, or at most rarely looked back on their time inside. There was also a sense from their accounts that they had in some way shut the door on the experience completely - that it no longer held any significance for them. One individual’s comment typified this position:

Other participants varied in the extent to which they seemed to look back on the experience, but related doing so to at least some extent and talked about memories they entertained as evidence o f this. At least at the time o f the follow up, none of the participants seemed to occupy the other end o f the continuum - whereby they appeared preoccupied with the experience. It was clear from one participant’s account however that he’d shifted from the start o f his release when '‘everything to do with prison. It was still in my head*’ to the position he currently held - " I’ve almost

blanked it from my head now” (15f).

Indeed, it seems plausible that this individual’s experience o f a shift may have reflected the norm - whereby individuals start their release from a point o f relative

pre-occupation^ but as time progresses think about it less and less. In talking about his release from a previous sentence however, another participant’s account is worthy o f note. The difficulty he had experienced in moving from this position, and the traumatic nature o f it for him was clear from his account. The following extract exemplifies this:

"I remember when I first came out, I was actually having dreams about prison and all that. Like when I was in my bedroom at home I ripped my door o ff and threw it out the window. And it was 'cause I was getting paranoid, 'cause I was in my bedroom and waking up I kept thinking I was in my cell still... 'Cause I ’d done a year in prison I kept thinking 7’m still in my cell. I ’m in me cell. ’.. I thought the door was locked, and I had to rip the door off, throw it out the window.. I was getting proper paranoid. ” (14i)

Finding a balance

"Well, it will always be in the back o f my mind. Put it that way... I f I do decide to do anything, that will always be in the back o f my mind. .../

Overall, it was considered that those who showed some sort of a balance between the two extreme positions appeared better adjusted at the time of the follow up. With the possible exception of one these individuals seemed to have successfully grieved the losses they had accrued as a result of prison. Furthermore, they appeared able to hold on to the reflections - particularly evaluations o f prison - that had motivated them to start afresh whilst they were still in prison. Thus, the experience seemed to hold a more lasting impact on their motivation to avoid offending.

Indeed, all o f the participants judged to have adopted the extreme position o f having ‘forgotten prison’ related re-offending on at least some level subsequent to release. In contrast to this, all but one o f the individuals who seemed to have achieved a balance in locating the experience claimed to have completely avoided re-offending, as did several who whilst more ambiguous in their position showed at least elements o f the balance. One, for instance commented;

‘7 think about some o f the things Fve done in there - like work and stuff And it motivates me to get my job. Like when I worked in there I used to say

to myself that I was going to get a job when I come out and I wasn’t going to get in trouble., and I haven’t got in trouble and I did get a job... I mean I done what I wanted to do..” { \\ï)

Only one participant had returned to a lifestyle of fighting in spite o f his apparent adoption o f such a position and his previously stated intentions. Although his attempts to curb his fighting had been futile, he nonetheless appeared to be searching for solutions:

“Cause sometimes when I'm going out with my friends, sometimes they take drugs, or a knife or shit like that. And I think about going back in and tell them not to. ” (6f)