By Margo Whitesell Brimm (she/they), VCU Social Work Intern
It’s frustrating, nauseating, and almost mesmerizing to see the same scenarios play out across an array of settings and circumstances.
When a situation occurs repeatedly, vocabulary begins to form around it. When someone uses the force of their own body to physically restrict the movement of another person, it’s called physical restraint, and it happens to all kinds of people (some more than others). When someone is restrained in such a way that their belly is to the ground, it’s called prone restraint. Positional asphyxiation is when the positioning of someone’s body prevents them from breathing adequately, and this form of asphyxia is the reason that prone restraint sometimes results in death.
The scenario of restraint that scares and fascinates me the most is when many people restrain one person. It begins with a confrontation and quickly moves to the ground. The person is laid out, belly down, held in position by every limb. More people eagerly stand by, trying to find somewhere on the body they can lay their hands, looking to assist further in the restraint. People start leaning with their hands on the person’s back. They grab the head. Eventually, so many people are on top of the person that you can’t even see them anymore. All you see is a mass of bodies, heads looking down at their target, arms activated, their focus collected on a single point. There’s yelling. Then yelling becomes whispering. The person says they can’t breathe, but they are ignored. Somehow, the people restraining the person don’t know that speech isn’t really an indicator of adequate breathing. Eventually, the person stops fighting back. It’s unclear what the people are waiting for at this point. For one reason or another, the restraint is discontinued.
I want you to stop and think about the images you may be creating in your head. When you imagine these behaviors, who is the one being restrained? Who are the people restraining? Why is it happening? Where is it taking place?
What if I told you that this exact scenario happens in schools, in hospitals, in prisons, on the streets, in special education classrooms, in colleges, in nursing homes, in group homes? People affected by restraint are disproportionately disabled, disproportionately people of color, and disproportionately both. Men, women, and children have died under the weight of authority figures, and even more people live with lasting trauma. So far, we’ve imagined the situation from a bystander’s perspective, perhaps seen through video. Imagine it’s you under the weight of many hands. Imagine wondering if you would survive. How would you react?
This is preventable harm. We know what works and what doesn’t, and when we advocate for better standards, we are too often confronted with the narrative that teachers, police, corrections officers, nurses, doctors, and support staff need limitless permission to literally crush the people they are meant to serve.
It’s simply mind boggling. How could such trusted figures betray us? In moments of uncertainty, I turn to my curated collection of quotes from modern thought leaders.
“How do we cultivate the ability to still see the humanity in those whom we vehemently disagree with…? Belonging is a capacity to see the humanity in those that are not like us and recognize that the same elements that exist within them also exist within us.”
Dr. Shawn Ginwright, PhD
(The Four Pivots, p. 15)
In the search for why, I found the concept of “collective effervescence.” It’s a sociological term that describes how the relationship between people in a group and how collective feelings can contribute to certain outcomes. It was originally used to explore religious rituals and how they contribute to a sense of belonging within a group and can dictate unexpected actions and reactions. While these incidents where people come together to restrain one person obviously aren’t religious in nature, we can see the same elements at play.
I’ve included a graphic here to illustrate this academic theory. When you get down to it, “collective effervescence” is just a fancy term that means when a group of people share an identity, feel isolated from everyone else, share a singular point of focus, and are experiencing intense feelings, things can get out of hand. There is a feedback loop present in collective action, where the results of a process feed directly into the recurrence of that process. Essentially, intense feelings intensify focus, and intense focus intensifies feelings. Ultimately, the results of the activity are an increased sense of solidarity with those present, and a righteous denial of wrongdoing.
I’ve been taught that social problems aren’t solved solely by working against other people. If we ever want to improve conditions for vulnerable people in these settings, we have to somehow work with the people in these positions of power while still protecting students, children, detainees, prisoners, patients, and nursing home residents. We have to break through the “barrier to outsiders” and make them realize that we all want the same thing: basic standards of safety for vulnerable people and those who serve them.
References:
Brown, A. M., & Cyril, M. (2020). We will not cancel us: And other dreams of transformative justice. AK Press.
Draper, S. (2014). Effervescence and solidarity in religious organizations. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 53(2), pp. 229-248. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jssr.12109
Ginwright, S. A. (2021). The four pivots: Reimagining justice, reimagining ourselves. North Atlantic Books.
Margo Whitesell Brimm (she/they) has a master’s degree with a concentration in macro social work. Throughout their graduate studies, they delved into topics such as policy analysis, community organizing, and program development, gaining valuable insights into how systemic change can address social inequity. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring cities and reading about disability experiences and intersectional feminism. As a long-time Richmond suburbanite, they look forward to moving into a Richmond city apartment with their partner, Oscar. As Margo continues to advocate for a more equitable and inclusive society, she remains dedicated to uplifting the voices of those who are often marginalized and overlooked, striving to help shape the Commonwealth into a place where everybody has the opportunity to thrive.
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