Zatopekian pains of imprisonment

• In Event: PWG - Revisiting ‘the pains of imprisonment’

Abstract

Research has shown that prisoners sometimes experience release from prison or transfer from high to low security as painful. Studies have also shown that rehabilitation and positive change may result in ‘pains of freedom’ and ‘pains of desistance’. The fact that increased freedom sometimes results in increased pain, suggests a difference between destructive pain and constructive or change-oriented pain. Conceptually, such a difference is already well established in the field of sociology of sport and exercise, where the term ‘Zatopekian pain’ is used to describe the pain associated with improvement following intense training, in contrast to injury-related destructive pain. In this paper, I introduce the term ‘Zatopekian pains of imprisonment’ and discuss the analytical potential of separating pain and injury in prison studies. If pain is not always connected to injury and harm, and if positive change may be painful, what are the implications for prison research?

Author

• Thomas Ugelvik, University of Oslo