-17 Figure 1: Cybernetic Control Loop Being attentive to circularity in human communication and behaviour is central to understanding complex problems. Application of the principle in preventive monitoring: The application of this principle is crucial for deepening the understanding of social life in prison, which, in turn, is the basis for effectively contributing to change. Strongly based on linear thinking, prisons attempt to control life through hierarchy, rules and enforcement, but clearly fail to do so in a satisfactory way. Instead, prison life produces a rich informal dimension.24 Circularity manifests, inter alia, in the following ways. Despite the clear hierarchy between staff and prisoners, circularity suggests that there is strong co-dependency between prison staff and the inmates. In our experience, prison staff on the wings is vividly aware of this. Circularity also plays a major role in understanding security in prisons. Tightening of security measures can lead to the very problems it aims to combat: Rebellion might be a consequence of the life of inmates getting restricted and their autonomy not respected.25 This is a good example 24. The former prison director and systemic consultant, Wolfgang Gratz, describes the situation in the following way: “As non-trivial circular steering processes are not provided for (e.g. through jointly negotiated agreements) or are even prohibited, non-trivial steering …. takes place in informal and/or illegal ways”, Wolfgang Gratz, Im Bauch des Gefängnisses. Beiträge zur Theorie und Praxis des Strafvollzugs (2nd edn, Neuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag 2008) 174 (translation by the authors). 25. Frieder Dünkel‚ ‘Der deutsche Strafvollzug im Internationalen Vergleich‘, Presentation in the Conference „Das Gefängnis als Lernende Organisation“ (27.-29. November 2002). Systemic Thinking in Preventive Human Rights Monitoring