Author:
Driessen Josi M.A.,Dirkzwager Anja J.E.,Harte Joke M.,Aarts Henk
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.
Subject
Law,Applied Psychology,Social Psychology
Reference110 articles.
1. Debt problems and crime;Criminology,2016
2. How often did I do it? Experienced ease of retrieval and frequency estimates of past behavior;Acta Psychologica,1999
3. On the inference of personal authorship: enhancing experienced agency by priming effect information;Consciousness and Cognition,2005
4. On the feeling of doing: dysphoria and the implicit modulation of authorship ascription;Behaviour Research and Therapy,2006