Tales of resilience: voices from detention and imprisonment in Russia

Abstract

As the exposure to state violence could have long-term negative consequences on
the survivors, we analyzed which optics and measures could be used regardless of the
vulnerabilities of the individual, their social status and institutional context. We examine the ways in which law enforcement system challenges individuals and measures used to practice resilience. We use the concept of resilience within
torturing environment to achieve our goal. Various actors of Russian law enforcement
and penitentiary systems – detainees and prisoners, their family members, human rights activists, state agents etc. – participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews, which we coded basing on grounded theory. Measures employed by survivors to exercise resilience involve regaining bodily control (both by exercise and self-harm), having projections for future (by threats of legal prosecution or publicity), exploiting bureaucracy to one’s advantage, controlling information flow (by bluffing), controlling material evidence, employing allies and preserving the meaning of “normal self”.
We believe that our findings can have practical applications, e.g. for preventing some of the negative consequences of torture by training vulnerable individuals to employ resilient strategies. Describing the way to interpret the power imbalances inherent to the torture environment might also be helpful for appreciating even the smallest acts, including the choice not to act.