An Analysis of Anti-Shackling Legislation Using Narrative Policy Framework

• In Event: Ethics, Language, and Human Rights in Research, Policy, and Practice

Abstract

While there is limited research on the treatment of pregnant incarcerated individuals and the overall outcomes of pregnant incarcerated individuals, there has never been a study that analyzes the language of anti-shackling legislation. This thesis uses Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to examine anti-shackling legislation to understand how pregnant incarcerated individuals, healthcare staff, and correctional staff are portrayed within the legislation and how broader criminal justice contexts help shape these narratives. Additionally, this study examines how a state’s political context influences the wording of these laws, potentially shaping the level of protection or control written within the legislation. By applying NPF’s five core assumptions (social construction, bounded relativity, generalizable structural elements, three interacting levels of analysis, and homo narrans model of the individual) this research discusses how legal language perpetuates harm within the criminal justice system. Through the use of NPF, this thesis helps to provide insight into how the narrative components in anti-shackling legislation help to explain the characterization of pregnant incarcerated individuals, staff, and their criminal justice contexts.

Authors

• Lillian H. Selznick, Northern Arizona University

• Ariel L. Roddy, Northern Arizona University