Confinement as a learning context: the Liberté case, a reversal of the Stanford experiment

Abstract

In this paper we refer to a case that is part of our research framed in the context of confinement as a learning context. It is the "Liberté Case" which is located in Unit No. 15 Maximum Security Prison Complex of Batán, belonging to the Buenos Aires Penitentiary Service. The objectives are to make this case visible, to seek new understandings about the possibilities and limitations of its growth and development and to offer guidelines to improve and adapt this discrepant experience to be multiplied in other contexts. The qualitative methodology is developed through the design of participatory-action-research. We have worked with primary sources such as in-depth interviews with people involved in this case in different roles; as well as focus groups and field observations. Secondary sources such as statistical data provided by official bodies on the issue were also used. In the body of the paper, first of all, we make a theoretical development that deepens the understanding of confinement as a learning context. We then refer to the Stanford experiment where we analyze the failure of punitivist models. Subsequently, we present the Liberté case, highlighting the self-managed experience carried out there. Towards the end of the paper, we seek to show that the Liberté case is not only the backhand of the Stanford case, but also implies other backhands to current prison policies, which should be taken into account for their indispensable transformation.