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This book establishes the vital relevance of contemporary psychoanalysis to law. Our legal system is predicated on the idea that people act rationally and of their own free will. Yet the facts of mental life present a much messier picture. Psychoanalysis draws our attention to the hidden, conflicted, wishful, sometimes self-destructive aspects of our inner selves that can produce inexplicable decision making and irrational behavior. With its detailed portrait of the unconscious, psychoanalysis helps us to answer some of the most puzzling questions in law, such as: Why would an individual confess to a crime she did not commit? What motivates an individual to enter into a prenuptial agreement against his own interest? Why should we prohibit incestuous sexual relations between consenting adults? Why would a victim of domestic violence delay leaving her abuser? What prevents an individual from changing when confronted with evidence of his own racial bias? Delving deep into the complex workings of the unconscious, this book draws on contemporary psychoanalytic ideas to refine and redefine legal theory, rules, and judging. The contemporary psychoanalytic perspective presented here complements much of the research on the mind taking place in the cognitive sciences. At the crossroads of psychology and the law, this book challenges basic legal assumptions about the autonomous, rational actor, offering a nuanced and humane perspective that furthers our legal system’s highest ideals of individual fairness and systemic justice.

In the past few years, the need for prison reform in America has reached the level of a consensus. We agree that many prison terms are too long, especially for nonviolent drug offenders; that long-term isolation is a bad idea; and that basic psychiatric and medical care in prisons is woefully inadequate. Some people believe that contracting out prison services to for-profit companies is a recipe for mistreatment. This book argues that these reforms barely scratch the surface of what is wrong with American prisons: an atmosphere of malice and humiliation that subjects prisoners and guards alike to constant degradation. Bolstered by insights from hundreds of letters written by prisoners, the book makes the case for an entirely new concept of prisons and their purpose: an “inner architectonics of reform” that will provide better education for all involved in prisons, more imaginative and careful use of technology, more sophisticated surveillance systems, and better accountability.