Institutional withdrawal: Power through omission in late modern imprisonment

Abstract This article argues that institutional withdrawal—the retraction of institutional infrastructure—is a distinctive mode of late-modern penal power. Drawing on fieldwork into peer-led induction in open prisons in England and Wales, it shows how withdrawal operates across interpersonal, procedural and organizational dimensions as institutional actors step back while retaining surveillance and sanctioning powers. Whether intentional or unintentional, withdrawal produces responsibilization by default, generating uncertainty and retreatist adaptations amongst those imprisoned, who carry responsibility without scaffolding. Far from signalling institutional failure, withdrawal reflects neoliberal logics of organizational retrenchment and responsibilization. Drawing on Goffman’s concept of abandonment and Merton’s account of retreatism, the article reframes late-modern imprisonment as governance through withdrawal, demonstrating how penal power persists through omission, producing iatrogenic harm.