NCJ Number
101976
Journal
Journal of Law and Society Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1986) Pages: 93-115
Date Published
1986
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This paper presents and discusses case studies that illustrate the institutional response to death occuring during criminal justice custody.
Abstract
The case studies illustrate how, at all levels, State institutions are reluctant to operate mechanisms which make their regimes and practices accountable. Operational policies and practices are dictated by institutionalized ideologies which are entrenched in both the formal and informal structures of police and prison services. The cases of criminal and political violence, personal inadequacy, and discrimination against women provide clear examples of the political management of identities. In these cases, authorities effectively marginalized those people who self-mutilated, attemped or committed suicide, or suffered through acts of neglect or brutality. The construction of identities and the politics of marginalization operate to preserve institutional policies and procedures and to justify the application of harsh and differential responses in the enforcement and application of the rule of law. 70 notes.