Legal psychologist explains Many years of isolation - how do you endure that?

For more than seven years, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been living in cramped conditions. In the "Bluewin" interview, legal psychologist Leena Hässig explains what traces this leaves behind and how detainees who may have to spend the rest of their lives behind bars fare.

Julian Assange is in a bad way. He spent several years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to the USA. According to UN Special Rapporteur Nils Melzer, this time has left its mark: Assange is said to suffer from anxiety and show signs of severe psychological trauma.

On April 11 of this year, the 48-year-old was arrested by the British police after his asylum in the embassy was revoked. The USA has accused Assange of several criminal offens es. He is currently in custody.

Leena Hässig can understand how permanent isolation affects a person. The legal psychologist is in regular contact with detainees in Swiss prisons. In this interview, she talks about who suffers most from the prison situation and what can happen when prison inmates lose touch with reality.

Ms Hässig, Julian Assange has been living in just 20 square meters in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for the past seven years - how do you put up with something like that?

We don't know what his everyday life looked like in detail, nor do we know how many visitors he received during this time or how often he was in contact with the embassy staff. From my professional experience, however, I know how difficult it is for prisoners in prison when there is a lack of communication, i.e. a certain speechlessness. They are happy when they can talk to fellow inmates or prison staff. The fact that Julian Assange had free access to the internet was certainly a great relief for him. He was always able to stay in touch with his surroundings, family and friends.

Internet access, a privilege that inmates in Swiss prisons do not have...

Not really, but sometimes they do gain access. Those who manage to do so, who can Skype with the outside world, for example, fare better. Being separated from your family, your closest friends - that is very difficult for most people.

Difficult is also how Assange's character is described by some of his companions. While he was in the Ecuadorian embassy, people repeatedly turned their backs on him, including his biographer.

They labeled him as self-absorbed and narcissistic - but you have to think about the motives that drove him. What motivated him to become a whistleblower? It takes a lot of courage, even if he himself may not always have had the full reality of what he was doing in mind.

It would be too short-sighted and would not do him justice to simply label him as a troublesome guy. It may also be that this is part of his personality, if he makes himself known through reactions such as impatience, frustration intolerance or impulsiveness - not unusual for someone who has to persevere in an extreme situation. The image the outside world has of him is probably more difficult for him to come to terms with: for his supporters, he is a hero who has suffered great injustice. For others, he is the devil, a rapist, a spy.

Assange is said to have smeared excrement on the walls of the Ecuadorian embassy during his stay there.

That shows how desperate he must have been. You see this more often with people who can't live out their emotions or process them properly, including people in old people's homes or people in custody. During my career, I have repeatedly come across people who have done strange things during their imprisonment; for example, they have rolled themselves up in toilet paper. This is very much in the direction of prison psychosis: the person concerned loses touch with reality.

You just mentioned Assange's reactions: Are there any typical behaviors that show up in people in a similar isolation situation?

If the activity you have inside you is not required for a long period of time, you become numb and hardly show any emotions. It's the everyday things that are suddenly missing: Just going to the supermarket or cooking - that's no longer possible. From one day to the next, you are no longer self-determined, but completely dependent. I can well imagine that the natural activity that characterized Julian Assange's personality may have turned into frustration and aggression. On the other hand, every reasonably healthy person has a great ability to adapt.

And then at some point the exceptional situation becomes a habit?

Especially at the beginning of their sentence, prisoners are often very agitated. If nothing happens for a long period of time, a certain routine sets in and they become calm . As soon as things start to move again, because another court hearing or something similar is imminent, feelings of hope or disappointment arise, and with them more restlessness.

The moments of change are always the most difficult. However, this is not to say that the long phases during which nothing happens cannot also be grueling and stressful, and that despair and even depression can set in. Sexuality plays a very important role, as it can no longer be experienced in prison in the same way as in freedom. This is still a big taboo subject.

How do you experience people who - just like Assange - know that they will be locked away for many years?

Some "storm", rebel and protest violently against their prison sentence. Others tend to wither away inwardly and try to cope with the reduced daily routine.

Do the latter come to terms with their situation, or are these rather signs of capitulation?

They are more likely to show adaptability and insight. They are aware of their actions and the resulting consequences. The more they understand the social context, the better they can accept imprisonment as a form of reparation. Decades of imprisonment leave their mark on everyone. There are people who become very lonely when they have little interpersonal contact. Sick inmates, who know that they will probably never get out again, even wish to end their lives through a death organization such as Exit.

What helps a person in custody to cope better with isolation?

I have met very different people. Some appreciate rituals and stick to a certain daily structure: lunch is always served at 12:00 noon, phone calls with the outside world are always made at 3:00 pm, and at 7:00 pm you sit in front of the TV. Others continue their education, learn languages or engage in creative activities. Fellow prisoners also offer support - and the disappointment is correspondingly great when this person is released and you are left behind.

Who finds it particularly difficult to adapt to life behind prison walls?

It is very difficult for mothers who have to live apart from their children, who are often still small. Or when the inmate knows that someone outside is doing badly and they can't do anything themselves. Dealing with the outside world has a big influence on how you feel inside.

How do you work with the inmates?

Legal psychologists treat offenders so that they don't reoffend. This also means that the offenders have to take responsibility for their actions, reflect on their actions and - with regard to their functioning - be insightful. In the final step, they must develop a better ability to control themselves so that they do not commit any more crimes. This is not possible to the same extent with so-called political prisoners. In this case, you can offer an objective discussion that not only gives the person concerned an understanding of their own perspective, but also that of others.

Do you sometimes feel compassion when dealing with prisoners, or are you able to block it out completely?

Strange or even borderline behavior by people in a social context triggers an automatic response in all of us: Either we want to punish or we feel compassion. An extreme example: if we see a person in a desolate state begging for money on the side of the road, this either triggers rejection in us and we turn away from them. Or we offer help, give them money or get them something to eat.

Sometimes, when I'm working in prison, I think: "Oh dear, he's had a terrible childhood. He must have it better now...". You forget the crime for a moment. As a psychologist, I'm aware of these mechanisms and I know how to deal with them. But you always need another person to say "stop!" and at the same time point out the actions of these people. We professionals regularly exchange information with each other so that the picture we form of the offender remains objective.

However, many laypeople fail to do this and allow themselves to be manipulated ...

Manipulation ... a word that is almost always used incorrectly! Incidentally, it's not a term that comes from psychology, but originally from chemistry. Nowadays, we often hear this word in the context of legal issues. However, manipulation always requires at least two people. I prefer to say that you are being challenged and should be vigilant. No one can simply decide over another person. At least not until someone holds a gun to their head or a knife to their throat.

Personal details: Leena Hässig Ramming studied psychology, criminal law and criminal procedure law. She is President of the Swiss Society for Legal Psychology and President of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation against Violence against Women and Children. Hässig worked for over 30 years as a psychotherapist at the Forensic Psychiatric Service of the University of Bern. Today she works in her own practice for legal psychology in Bern and at the Fachstelle Gewalt Bern.

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