Debtors’ prisons played a vital – albeit seemingly paradoxical – role in early modern society. In many cases, those incarcerated could not or would not pay their debts. Instead, they languished in prison and racked up new debts to their gaolers. Chapter 2 addresses this seemingly self-contradictory system by showing that, even when it prevented the repayment of debts, imprisonment helped to protect wider social and economic interests, balancing those of landed wealth and emergent capital. It analyses the social, economic, legal and ideological shifts that underwrote this convoluted system, excavating emergent carceral ideologies. In turn, it considers the array of measures taken to alleviate the pressure that growing numbers of insolvent debtors placed on England’s prisons, mitigating the worst effects of the structural weakness of debt incarceration. These attempts to relieve an overburdened system – which ultimately stabilised the debtors’ prison into the eighteenth century – were essential because prisons had developed disciplinary purposes that proved vital to early modern social relations, even when its coercive functions failed.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a heterogeneous group of motor disorders resulting from nonprogressive brain disturbances. This chapter presents two case studies: One infant born prematurely with left hemiplegia, who actively participates in sports and attends mainstream school, and a second infant, born at full-term diagnosed with CP due to increased lower limb tone and mobility challenges. These cases illustrate the importance of timely diagnosis and early intervention to enhance functional outcomes. The discussion emphasizes the significance of comprehensive assessments, multidisciplinary management strategies, and the evolving understanding of CP definitions, highlighting the potential for improved quality of life through targeted interventions.

In this chapter, the phenomenology of emotions in people with schizophrenia is explored. A nuanced understanding of the specific emotional challenges in schizophrenia, together with their transformative potential, can inform psychotherapeutic and rehabilitative approaches and help to uncover their healing dimensions. The first section of the chapter examines the emotional world of the person with schizophrenia, focusing on profound emotional vulnerabilities and the alienating role that emotions can assume in this condition. The second section turns to the edge of human experience that gives rise to breakthrough and transformative experiences, all of which are intimately tied to emotion. People with schizophrenia often have a low threshold for a range of such breakthrough experiences, from falling into a ‘black hole’ of utter despair and anxiety‑laden psychotic states to moments of clarity and insight that resemble mystical experiences. The third section explores the therapeutic and healing potentials inherent in these emotional states.

This chapter argues that human rights and psychology are strongly connected, through principles and in practice. Human rights strive for the right of all people to live in dignity and with respect, protected from violations destructive to well-being and integrity. Examples are provided as to how closely connected these two fields are. Serious human rights violations and how these affect the mental health of individuals and communities are described; in particular, conflict-related sexual violence. Ways of dealing with these atrocities on a clinical and practical level, on an advocacy level through documentation and claim for justice, as well as through prevention and strengthening rights, are described and discussed. Such actions are fully dependent on the preparations on the part of psychologists, making human rights education a priority. This must include not only overarching principles but guidance to implementation on different levels. It will be argued that psychologists engaged in such work may well be regarded as human rights defenders.

This chapter discusses an innovative program at the Los Angeles County jail that showcases the transformative impact of compassionate care provided by inmate Mental Health Assistants (MHAs) for incarcerated patients with serious mental illness. The MHAs undergo extensive training in trauma-informed care and work to bridge the communication gap between patients and clinical staff. The chapter outlines the philosophy, structure, and goals of the program, emphasizing the need for a restorative environment and meaningful services within the jail. The core framework of the Mental Health Assistant model focuses on advocating for proper care and creating change for marginalized individuals. The program aims to promote healing, reduce recidivism, and uplift everyone involved through a culture of love, unselfishness, integrity, teamwork, and organized effort. The chapter details the impactful role of MHAs, the institutional mental health support program, and a step-by-step guide for implementing a transformative mental health care model within the corrections system.

The notion that people with psychopathy traits do not respond positively to treatment efforts may sound intuitive. If people are inflexible, uncaring towards others, manipulative, and just generally difficult to get along with, it follows that treatment might be ineffective. However, what is intuitive and what is accurate do not always overlap perfectly. The analyses in this chapter contribute to a growing body of literature indicating that individuals with psychopathy traits can change and respond in expected ways to intervention strategies (Bernstein et al., 2021; Wong et al., 2015). The analyses in this chapter identified that people with psychopathy traits who spent more time incarcerated, thereby increasing access to rehabilitative services, experienced a subsequent decline in offending. It is possible that these findings reflect the efficacy of the risk-need-responsivity model, wherein intensive intervention strategies reduce criminal behaviour for high-risk persons. Treatment modalities for people with psychopathy traits are discussed.

At the beginning of Chapter 7, two Kuwaiti detainees remain, Fawzi Al Odah and Fayiz Al Kandari, both of whom had their habeas petitions denied and appeared to be out of options. The US government was not talking to the detainees’ legal teams or to the Kuwaiti government. It was feared that they would be “forever prisoners”; the long project to repatriate these men would fail. At a cocktail party, Marcia Newell of the Core Team spoke to Hillary Clinton and told her that they were on opposite sides of an issue because she represented the Kuwaiti detainees; Clinton told Newell to call Ambassador Dan Fried, the key person on Guantanamo. They met at a noisy coffee shop. Newell proposed an Inter-Agency Working Group between the two governments. Fried indicated he was considering such cooperation and a parole-like process. Thus, began a working relationship that resulted in the development of a forward-looking Periodic Review Board process and the development of a rehabilitation center and security protocols that led to the ultimate return of the final two Kuwaiti detainees.

States are increasingly thought to have a duty to enable convicted persons’ rehabilitation, with some seeing this duty as grounded in convicted persons’ right to rehabilitation. This rights-based argument for rehabilitation emerged alongside the increase in rights litigation for carceral populations within the United States in the 1970s, and the contemporaneous development of the idea of imprisoned persons as “Rechtsburgers” or rights bearers in Europe.

Admittedly, legal recognition of a right to rehabilitation is not universal. Many countries present rehabilitation as a “guiding concept” rather than a right that can be enforced against the state. The United States had also considered it necessary to re-emphasise the importance its criminal justice system attaches to the goals of retribution, deterrence and incapacitation, following their ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) – which highlights the need for rehabilitative treatment within prison settings in Article 10 ICCPR.

Physiatrists are physicians with specialized training in management of disability, rehabilitation, and restoration of function. Physiatrists work with a multidisciplinary team to achieve the best possible functional outcome after a patient has survived a critical illness or injury. Multiple complications of Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS), such as ICU acquired weakness, spasticity, and the development of contracures and chronic pain syndromes, can be managed by a physiatrist. Physiatrists perform procedures to reduce spasticity and injections to manage pain. Physiatrists also perform gait assessmentts, evaluations for assistive devices or wheelchairs, and assessments to facilitate return to work via vocational rehabilitation.

This chapter presents a case study of the post-intensive care syndrome that highlights some of the syndrome’s defining features: the breadth of disability across physical, cognitive, and psychiatric domains; the duration of disability despite appropriate rehabilitative interventions; the varying degrees of disability over time with the potential for recrudescence, particularly with additional episodes of acute illness; and the social ramifications of the syndrome. This case report also demonstrates the holistic approach taken in ICU follow-up clinics and many of the interventions that such a clinic can provide.

Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) refers to the wide array of physical, cognitive, and psychological symptoms that a patient may experience following an acute illness. Persistent dysphagia is one significant concern that may remain following a patient’s discharge from the hospital. In these instances, the patient will be referred to a speech-language pathologist for outpatient dysphagia therapy services. Swallowing rehabilitation following discharge from the ICU is managed by a team of medical professionals, with the SLP acting as a coordinator for the interdisciplinary team. Referrals may be placed to psychologists, dietitians, and neurologists, amongst other professionals. Outpatient services begin with an initial evaluation that involves several components, including medical chart review, case history, oral mechanism exam, and bedside swallow exam. The patient may also be referred for an instrumental swallowing assessment to allow for direct visualization of the oral and pharyngeal phases of the swallow. Based on the evaluation results, a comprehensive treatment plan will be developed that includes restorative swallowing exercises, compensatory strategies, and diet modifications. Technology may also be incorporated into therapy sessions for maximum benefit.