Drawing on a comparison with the supermax (solitary confinement) prison in the United States, this article explores the meaning and social circulation of narratives of childhood trauma at HMP Grendon, a therapeutic community prison in Britain. Grendon prisoners incorporate the haunting effects of abuse and neglect into practices of group therapy and communal solidarity, in contrast to the persecution and repression characteristic of interactions in supermax. These differences are discussed in relation to historical changes in the framing of incarcerated personhood and the ‘death of the rehabilitative ideal’ in the United States.
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