INTRODUCTION Introduction This paper looks at positive culture change in places of deprivation of liberty from a human rights perspective.1 People deprived of their liberty are particularly vulnerable to abuse, including torture and other ill-treatment. Bodies that monitor places of detention play a significant role in preventing torture, by identifying root causes and seeking to reduce the risk of torture occurring. The culture in places of detention is one important systemic factor to be considered in torture prevention efforts. Culture is important because it has a direct bearing on the behaviour of people within a place of detention: staff and detainees. The way culture develops can have a positive or negative impact on the life of people in detention. In particular, experience suggests that when certain attitudes and values are adopted as cultural norms, they can lead to behaviour infringing on the dignity and rights of detainees. These represent cultural risk factors for torture and ill-treatment. By understanding how cultures are formed and perpetuated, it is possible to better identify these risk factors and seek to mitigate them through positive culture change. The added value of this approach is that it goes beyond focusing on acts of torture or strict compliance with legal standards to examine the underlying attitudes that motivate behaviour. Ultimately, it is by changing behaviour that one can improve the everyday life experiences of people in detention and hence reduce the risks of being subjected to torture. At the same time, there are challenges to working on culture in places of detention and the issue is often overlooked by human rights actors. In practice, cultures can seem intangible and difficult to define. Seeking to bring about human rights culture change is a complex and long-term task. Nevertheless, it is possible to draw on existing research and experience to identify some key processes and factors that can contribute to this change. Monitoring bodies are well placed to work on positive culture change in places of detention. They have the access to the place of detention, staff and detainees, which is necessary for identifying shared attitudes and values within these places. Through their work and experience, they often develop an understanding of informal structures, systems and ‘ways of doing things’ which would be difficult for outsiders to discern. Whether monitoring bodies choose to engage directly on culture change in places of detention will depend on a variety of factors. These include the need for culture change (presence of cultural risk factors for torture), as well as their own capacity and the nature of engagement they have with authorities. However, looking at culture can provide an important added perspective and serve to inform their broader work. The paper is primarily aimed at bodies that monitor places of detention and aims to: • Raise awareness among monitoring bodies of the role of culture in places of detention in the prevention of torture and ill-treatment • Provide a framework for understanding culture in places of detention (section I) • Outline some common cultural attitudes that can represent risk factors for torture and ill-treatment (section II) • Provide some examples of processes and factors that contribute to positive culture change in places of detention (section III) 1. The paper was developed as part of the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) and Penal Reform International (PRI) project ‘Evaluative tool for measuring the effectiveness of NPMs’. It has been adapted from: Jem Stevens, Changing Cultures in Closed Environments: What works? Law in Context, Vol. 31, 2014, p228-260. Penal Reform International | Institutional culture in detention: a framework for preventive monitoring |3