Returning to society after imprisonment

[chordatesrock]

Setting is non-real-world, but sort of resembles a normal city. Sort of. A character was held captive for a long period of time and subjected to psychological abuse and gaslighting, among other things

Comments

[cdozo]

I know that in some prison cafeterias, inmates need to raise their hands if they want seconds. When an inmate gets released they sometimes get embarrassed when they raise their hand for more at a restaurant.

[cdozo]

Oh, and they also sometimes get carsick because they aren't used to riding in a car.

[chordatesrock]

Thanks. That specific experience wouldn't apply here, but I'm sure there are similar things that will.

[dgirl1300]

There are plenty of books and movies about this. I would recommend The Executioner's Song and Slingblade.

[chordatesrock]

Thanks.

[anonymous]

Because this isn't the standard modern prison situation (conviction -> legal imprisonment -> timed release), and includes what sounds like intentional psychological abuse from the captors, you may have better luck looking into the studies on returning prisoners of war than general, legal imprisonment. I did a quick search for "reintegration prisoners of war", which returned some interesting results: This article briefly describes advice given by a former POW on reintegrating to civilian life (the necessity of decompression, having someone to tell your experience to, lingering hyper-vigilance and mood issues, etc), and this is a large study from the 70's on the same topic. (Many public and private libraries have a subscription to JSTOR, and if not you can still skim the abstract for new keywords to search on

[chordatesrock]

Thank you. That's really helpful! I can't believe I didn't think of that! :)

[anonymous]

You're welcome! :) I get sad seeing unanswered questions in this community.

[queenofswords38]

Hi there,

Some other things you may want to research are psychological studies and personal histories of Vietnam era prisoners of war. The specific article I'm thinking of is titled Captivity Stressors and Mental Health Consequences Among Repatriated U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps Vietnam-Era Prisoners of War, but there are many more that list coping strategies, torture and psychological effects. Also, there have been studies of mental health in Supermax prisoners. This is a prison in which the inmates have no human contact whatsoever. The guards do not speak to them, nor are they allowed outside. Basically a breeding ground for insanity.

[chordatesrock]

Thank you. :)

[starlite_gone]

Hmm-- this may all be completely useless to you but I figured I'd throw it out there just in case it helps

[chordatesrock]

Thank you! :) That's very helpful. The character is actually half of a duo of freelance heroes, which is similar to a soldier, so I think those resources will be helpful.