Artikel

Sexualiteit in de gevangenis: het celibaatsregime in de gevangenis

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Abstract

Sexuality and imprisonment - The relational and the sexual are central in man, but imprisonment causes his relational and sexual behaviour to be thoroughly disturbed. Until recently the deprivation of a sexual relation was accepted as a normal consequence of the imprisonment of someone found guilty. More and more the question of sensual deprivation and coital prohibition is being raised, also with regard to the prisoner’s guiltless partner, who is likewise harmed in his or her emotional, relational and procreative life. A considerable number of penitentiary authorities are trying to remedy this situation to a certain extent and some initiatives have already been taken in the last few decades. An end was put to unisexual living conditions by permitting a mixing of the sexes at the level of the prison staff, including at times that of the guards, or by the introduction in some places of a system of partial or complete mixing of the prisoners, but especially by the granting of penitentiary leave. It was thought that the latter constituted the maximum of what could possibly be achieved. This is not the case, as it is bound to remain a fragmentary solution in view of its periodical character and because of the exclusion of accused and long-term convicts from the system during the initial stages of imprisonment. The sexual problem is basically still there, while the prison with its regime of celibacy functions as a condom with regard to the prisoner’s sexuality. A fair amount of criticism has been voiced in this connection. The prison inmate tries to find a substitutionary solution to his condition of imposed abstinence either by sublimation, which is often achieved by swallowing large doses of pharmacopoeias, by chasing pornographic materials and using obscene language, but especially by masturbation and homosexual behaviour. Masturbation becomes a fixed item on the prisoner’s daily agenda. It requires a continual arousal of dream-like fantasies, which cause mental exhaustion after some time and tend to develop into perverse imaginations and homosexuality. Masturbation involves a shift of sexual inclinations, which are no longer directed towards a partner but to one’s own body, which is assigned a favourite part in finding unilateral sexual indulgence. This runs counter to the reciprocal dimension of sexuality, which is basically associated with the couple. When a prisoner is released there is a real danger that the relation with his partner will no longer result from an urge to express himself spontaneously but from a painful sense of duty. Finally, homosexuality lurks around the corner and constitutes a real scourge in the prisons of most countries. Prisons are and will be places engendering sexual phantasms, causing the syndrome of over-solicitation, viz. an imbalance between desire and gratification with which the prisoner is left to cope by himself. Although all this is still shrouded in an atmosphere of taboo, sexuality will have to be „divorced” from punishment for humanitarian reasons and conjugal visits will have to be permitted on a daily basis.

How to Cite:

Swinnen, E., (1983) “Sexualiteit in de gevangenis: het celibaatsregime in de gevangenis”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 28(1), 36–57. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.94839