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Perceptions of collective and other unjust punishment in Swiss prisons: a qualitative exploration

David Shaw (Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland and Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands)
Helene Seaward (Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland)
Felix Pageau (Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland)
Tenzin Wangmo (Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland)
Bernice S. Elger (Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland and Unit of Health Law and Humanitarian Medicine, Center for Legal Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland)

International Journal of Prisoner Health

ISSN: 1744-9200

Article publication date: 22 February 2022

Issue publication date: 10 May 2023

73

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe and analyse Swiss prisoners’ and experts’ views on collective punishment, the practice where a group is punished for one person’s transgression.

Design/methodology/approach

A series of qualitative interviews with prisoners and stakeholders are reported following thematic analysis.

Findings

Despite being forbidden by the Geneva Convention and other international instruments, participants from this study expressed the view that collective punishment continues to be practiced in some form in prisons in Switzerland, violating the rights of prisoners via unjust and arbitrary decision-making, unjust rules, inequalities in prison structures and continuation of incarceration based on the behaviour of others. Families can also be both victims and vectors of collective punishment, and prolonging the detention of prisoners who would otherwise have been released because of rare high-profile cases of reoffending can also be considered a form of collective punishment.

Originality/value

These significant findings suggest that collective punishment in various forms continues to be used in Swiss prisons.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Funding: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung.

Citation

Shaw, D., Seaward, H., Pageau, F., Wangmo, T. and Elger, B.S. (2023), "Perceptions of collective and other unjust punishment in Swiss prisons: a qualitative exploration", International Journal of Prisoner Health, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 241-250. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-06-2021-0059

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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