Abstract
The uncertainty, instability, and unpredictable atmosphere of prison combined with an unbalanced power system and the need to manage risk in all aspects of everyday life impeded the establishment of an atmosphere of mutual trust. Social relationships and communications in Iranian prisons make no exception to this regularity. However, an uninterrupted and widespread distrust culture radiates from society to the penal system.
The present paper is an attempt to challenge the studies, which explicitly single out the “total institution” as the territory of mistrust, while in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in which trust (generalized or institutional) is rarely developed even in the larger society, the culture of distrust infiltrates into prison. When discussing the issue of trust in prisons, the situation of people who use/have used substances deserves particular attention. The majority of the prison population in the Islamic Republic of Iran are drug related criminals or those who possess a history of illegal drug use. The lived experiences of those who use substances before incarceration revolve around mutual distrust relationships, as they have been constantly neglected and demoralized by the disguise of medicalization, which lead them trapped in the vicious cycle of stigmatization, isolation, exclusion by their loved ones, family members, and the society. Thus, drug related criminals are carriers for the culture of distrust from the larger society to the society of captives.
