Interlude: Like Father, Like Son: A Psychoanalytical Approach to Interviewing in Extreme Circumstances

Although the penal system is not known for fostering a psychoanalytic approach to the prison and its inmates, more and more analysts are involving themselves in evaluating and advising in forensic matters and other areas where the mental health of individuals is severely stressed. Judging by the paucity of analysts involved in these legal and penal areas, many may deem themselves either unsuited or uninterested in leaving the confines of their consulting room. However, psychoanalysts may be quite ignorant of the opportunities and challenges of forensic and penal consultation. In the following article, one budding analyst comes to the field in the most common and natural way, that is, following in the footsteps of his father. Howard Osofsky has developed a long-standing and mutually respectful relationship with the warden and staff of the Angola Louisiana State Penitentiary, often called “The Farm” by the inmates. “The Farm” also served as the nickname of Stanford University, where Michael Osofsky was a student.

With both police departments and prisons, there is a huge power differential between those in authority and those who come under the authority of police and prison guards. This power differential is a necessary prerequisite for abuse of inmates. Prevention of abuse resides not so much with the “kindness” of staff as with their discipline and training, and the attitude and atmosphere created by their administrative superiors, namely the warden and his/her assistants. Although prison guards, in general, can be said to be working in an “extreme” environment, “extreme” is even greater with guards assigned to death row and designated to participate in the execution of an inmate. Osofsky and Osofsky have found that, despite the stress, or as a way to deal with the stress, the guards have developed a high degree of professionalism and humaneness, a finding counter to the expectations of many and contrary to earlier research in this area.

In this article,