CONCEPTS: UNDERSTANDING CULTURE IN PLACES OF DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY Concepts: understanding culture in places of deprivation of liberty 1. What are places of deprivation of liberty? 2. What is ‘culture’ in places of detention? They are places people cannot leave of their own free will because of an order or acquiescence by a public authority.2 These include places such as prisons, police custody facilities, immigration detention centres, mental health institutions and social care homes. They also include situations of arrest and transport for the transfer of detainees.3 There are many different kinds of organisations responsible for places of deprivation of liberty (hereinafter ‘places of detention’) and it is difficult to generalise among them. However, when considering their cultures, it is useful to note that in general: ‘Culture in places of detention’ means the shared assumptions and values of staff and detainees, which guide behaviour within the detaining organisation. These are the shared attitudes about what is important within the detaining organisation, how problems are solved and what type of behavior is acceptable. Staff working in places of detention are socialised into the culture of the organisation and it can be difficult for them to step back and assess it objectively or break out of it. A shared culture among detainees is more likely to develop in ‘total institutions’ such as prisons or mental health hospitals, where people are ‘cut off from wider society for an appreciable period of time’ and ‘together lead an enclosed and formally administered round of life’.5 What is particularly interesting for monitoring bodies is the fact that ‘a strong organizational culture literally controls organizational behaviour’.6 • Detaining organisations are primarily concerned with people (detainees and staff). The relationship between these two groups plays a central role in determining the culture of the organisation.4 • This relationship is unequal, with staff having power and detainees depending on them for their basic everyday needs and rights. • Places of detention are shut off from the outside world and cultures within them can develop unchecked. • They can come under the responsibility of different ministries, for example defence, interior, justice and health, which has a significant impact on the culture within the detaining organisation. • They can be managed by a variety of types of organisation – public and private – but these tend to be hierarchical and/or bureaucratic with a clear organisational structure and chain of command. • They operate within a wider institutional and regulatory framework which governs the deprivation of liberty. 3. How are cultures in places of detention formed? Cultures in places of detention normally develop gradually over time through a complex mix of factors internal and external to the organisation. These include: • The paradigm: the idea of what the organisation does and why. This can be set by legislation and public policies as well as by management in explicit policies. However, just as important are unwritten rules and informal endorsement by managers which motivate the behaviour of staff. The latter can include ‘promotion and subtle social approval, ranging from invites to lunch or for drinks, to the ‘nudge-nudge, wink-wink’ forms of body language’.7 2. Article 4 of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT). See APT, Guide to the Establishment and Designation of NPMs, 2006, p18. 3. APT/IIDH, The OPCAT: Implementation Manual, 2010, pp48-55. 4. A Coyle, Change Management in Prisons (upcoming chapter in Understanding Prison Staff received from the author) p241. 5. E Goffman, Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates, Anchor Books, 1961, pxiii. 6. J M Shafritz and J S Ott, Classics of Organizational Theory, Brooks/Cole, 3rd ed, 1992, as quoted in Joan M. Bedore, Prisons as Organizational Cultures: A Literature Review of a Vastly Unexplored Organizational Communication Setting, 1994. 7. C Meyers, Institutional Culture and Individual Behavior: Creating an Ethical Environment, 2006 <www.csub.edu/~cmeyers/316assign/organizational. doc> p5. 4 | Penal Reform International | Institutional culture in detention: a framework for preventive monitoring