Framing the “Loka”: Uncovering the Psychotic Veil from “Care” and “Safety”

• In Event: Neoliberal Care as Punishment: Abolition Feminist Interrogations of the “Benevolent” Carceral State

Abstract

Historical and contemporary studies show how prisons, carceral institutions, and psychiatric facilities have merged under punitive logics of “care.” Today, the healthcare system, criminal legal system, and child welfare system are closely linked in processes of criminalizing care. However, limited research examines how legal cases within child protective services justify punitive interventions using the “best interest of the child” framework to address violence against women. Using a feminist abolition medicine, decolonial framework, and 28 photo-elicitation testimonios with Latina mothers involved with the child welfare system, I argue that definitions of “care” must center the intergenerational knowledge of families who have experienced the harms of criminalization. I discuss how care is medicalized and institutionalized in psychiatric facilities, domestic violence shelters, halfway homes, and drug rehabilitation centers via 1) framing the “crazy” or “loka” 2) unsafe contexts, and 3) intergenerational legal blame. In this article, I highlight the intricacies of care, safety, and abolition medicine to illustrate how the child welfare system perpetuates a form of medicalized carcerality that adversely affects the health of Latina mothers and their children. As we navigate the uncertainty of what constitutes safety for families in crisis, it is crucial to examine how various settings—such as domestic violence shelters and psychiatric facilities—can also foster insecurity, reinforcing cycles of abuse. This approach invites us to rethink the concepts and practices of safety and care, and reveals how mothers draw on these experiences to cultivate intergenerational safety, shedding light on overlooked dimensions of organizational influence on family wellbeing.

Author

• Katherine Maldonado, University of Utah