Effects of captivity.

steddyeddy

Hey guys prehaps you can help me, I was wondering are there any studies which layed illustrated the effects of captivity on humans? Im studying the effects of captivity on the non-huamn apes and although not essential I would be curious to know about the studies and conclusions (if any) conducted on humans during imprisonment?

JuliusCaesar

Hi Eddy, I suppose 'captivity' for humans varies: prison, being held hostage or kidnapped, living a life where you feel trapped, being 'trapped' in a wrong body (transgender, or the guys who feel a limb is foreign to them). The effects will all vary by condition and by individual. (Although Maslow's Learned Helplessness was hypothesised to be a mechanism in human depression.)

and then there are the effects on people of living under repressive regimes, where everyone could be a member of the secret police...This one's is a bit old. Here's long term kidnap effects (p72) - but look at the main sources! Humans are just too blinkin' complex!

hotspur

It's strange that no studies come to mind. With the prison population having been such a rich source for study years ago one would think there are many such studies.

As JC said there is the issue of variables in captivity. For example within prison how could one delineate the effects of captivity abstracted from all the other potentially powerful variables in play in such an environment.

One important variable of incarceration would be powerlessness. I don't think there is much doubt that powerlessness has a very negative effect on the vast majority of people. Again as JC mentioned Seligman's learned helplessness comes to mind. And I can see how relevant this is to what you're studying as there is good sense to the idea that depression is an evolved social defeat response which ultimately has a physical protection function.

I was reading recently about the range of severe psychological effects that almost all of the Chilean miners are now suffering. It is quite extraordinary the profundity of the post traumatic stress they are experiencing.

If you are in a non-scientific mood of just wanting to get a flavour of the effects of incarceration than I can recommend Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning about his experience in Autswitch and how it informed his existential psychotherapy. Also, although technically fiction, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a remarkable little book based on his experience of being in the gulag in Stalinist Soviet Union.

None of which answers your question

Odysseus

I think a lot of stuff around this area is sadly unpublished [currently in anyway], a friend of mine partner just finished her clinical PsychD last year. Her research was with lifers in Mountjoy and the psychological impact of such a sentence. The APPI had a guest speaker who worked mostly with those who had been victims of state torture and captivity in South American countries IIRC a few years back, but sadly I missed that one.

Steddyeddy, my consultant is also the counsultant for drug treatment in some of prisons; so I will ask him at our next clinical meeting if aware of any good research which deals with the topic.

steddyeddy

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Hi Eddy, I suppose 'captivity' for humans varies: prison, being held hostage or kidnapped, living a life where you feel trapped, being 'trapped' in a wrong body (transgender, or the guys who feel a limb is foreign to them). The effects will all vary by condition and by individual. (Although Maslow's Learned Helplessness was hypothesised to be a mechanism in human depression.)

and then there are the effects on people of living under repressive regimes, where everyone could be a member of the secret police...This one's is a bit old. Here's long term kidnap effects (p72) - but look at the main sources! Humans are just too blinkin' complex!

Thanks for the links Julius, I didnt take in the complexity of humans. I should have termed the thread "effects of imprisonment", I failed to take into account the state of feeling trapped which im sure would make for interesting studies. Im fascinated by learned helplessness and if im not wrong cbt would have an element of "unlearning helplessness" about it.

steddyeddy

hotspur wrote: »

It's strange that no studies come to mind. With the prison population having been such a rich source for study years ago one would think there are many such studies.

As JC said there is the issue of variables in captivity. For example within prison how could one delineate the effects of captivity abstracted from all the other potentially powerful variables in play in such an environment.

One important variable of incarceration would be powerlessness. I don't think there is much doubt that powerlessness has a very negative effect on the vast majority of people. Again as JC mentioned Seligman's learned helplessness comes to mind. And I can see how relevant this is to what you're studying as there is good sense to the idea that depression is an evolved social defeat response which ultimately has a physical protection function.

I was reading recently about the range of severe psychological effects that almost all of the Chilean miners are now suffering. It is quite extraordinary the profundity of the post traumatic stress they are experiencing.

If you are in a non-scientific mood of just wanting to get a flavour of the effects of incarceration than I can recommend Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning about his experience in Autswitch and how it informed his existential psychotherapy. Also, although technically fiction, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a remarkable little book based on his experience of being in the gulag in Stalinist Soviet Union.

None of which answers your question

Ill track down that book it sounds very interesting, I think I heard of the book and the man. In Auswitch the author is fascinated by the different ways people coped with their situation. Was he too inspire some of the first movements of cbt also?

steddyeddy

Odysseus wrote: »

I think a lot of stuff around this area is sadly unpublished [currently in anyway], a friend of mine partner just finished her clinical PsychD last year. Her research was with lifers in Mountjoy and the psychological impact of such a sentence. The APPI had a guest speaker who worked mostly with those who had been victims of state torture and captivity in South American countries IIRC a few years back, but sadly I missed that one.

I was surprised by the lack of published material on the subject, maybe it would be thought of as bad taste to study. Your friend picked an excellent topic to study it seems virgin territory and a study that will be well received.

Steddyeddy, my consultant is also the counsultant for drug treatment in some of prisons; so I will ask him at our next clinical meeting if aware of any good research which deals with the topic.

That would be great man thanks, apreciate it!

steddyeddy

I almost forgot heres an article on the effects of captivity on non-human primates!

http://primatology.net/2010/10/01/ape-behavior-inside-the-exhibit-and-holding-area/

metrovelvet

Related to what you are talking about but Stanford UNI did a famous study on their students when they were placed in the roles of prison officers and captors.

JuliusCaesar

some info here and here.