Abstract

Not all heroin users that enter the prison estate continue to use heroin or access opiate maintenance or detoxification treatment programmes. Some prisoners decide to self-detoxify. The literature on self-detoxification is thin and focuses on the decisions and practices of self-detoxification in community settings. Less attention has been given to the role of the body and the lived experience of self-detoxification in prison settings. The aim of this paper therefore is to examine the process of self-detoxification in prison, with a particular focus on the role of the body, embodiment and prisoner social relations. This paper draws on Drew Leder’s (1990) absent body theoretical framework and the literature on prison masculinity to analyse qualitative interviews with recently released prisoners. It shows how the decision to self-detoxify can be understood as part of the masculine performance of keeping a low profile. Keeping a low profile helped the participants minimise the risks of victimisation. The self-detoxification techniques the participants used were underpinned by an awareness of the body as poisoned by heroin, suffering because of its presence, rather than its absence. This study has implications for prisoners’ access to opiate maintenance and detoxification treatment programmes and harm reduction services upon release.

摘要

并非所有进入监狱的海洛因使用者都继续使用海洛因或参加鸦片维持或解毒治疗方案。一些囚犯决定自我解毒。关于自我解毒的文献很少，主要关注社区环境中自我解毒的决策和实践。对身体的作用和监狱环境中自我解毒的生活经验的关注较少。因此，本文的目的是研究监狱中自我解毒的过程，特别关注身体的作用、体现和囚犯的社会关系。本文借鉴了 Drew Leder 的 ( 1990) 缺乏身体理论框架和关于监狱男子气概的文献来分析对最近释放的囚犯的定性访谈。它显示了如何将自我解毒的决定理解为保持低调的男性表现的一部分。保持低调有助于参与者将受害风险降至最低。参与者使用的自我解毒技术的基础是意识到身体被海洛因毒害，因为它的存在而不是它的存在而痛苦。这项研究对囚犯在获释后获得阿片类药物维持和解毒治疗方案以及减少伤害服务有影响。