The analysis uses both the conceptual tools of constitutive criminological theory and the ethnographic experiences of the researchers. The discussion also presents three representative case studies of individuals with mental illness who experienced civil commitment, incarceration, or both. These life stories revealed how transcarceration uniquely affected their everyday experiences. Application of selected principles of constitutive criminology to these case studies demonstrated where and how transcarceration functioned for these mentally disordered citizens. Two of the individuals died because of the language and logic of the restrictive process that consumed and defined their existences; the third individual suffered because of it. The analysis concluded that the individuals became prisoners of confinement due to the transcarceration process and that they could do little to change their marginalizing and alienating identities. Notes and 64 references (Author abstract modified)