Health Protection in Prison, Between Equivalence of Care and Less Eligibility

Abstract

The article presents some reflections resulting from three different researches conducted by the author on the issues that revolve around the protection of health in Italian prisons, with particular reference to the principle of equivalence of care between inside and outside, sanctioned by the prison healthcare reform. The approach used, the qualitative contributions of which are presented here, has made it possible to highlight the impediments to the implementation of this principle in the prison context, for both cultural and structural reasons. On one hand, the power dynamics and conflicts that characterise every total institution have a significant impact on relations (between prison staff and healthcare professionals, as well as between healthcare professionals/prison staff and prisoners), while the widespread unsanitary nature of prison structures has an impact on daily life and on the level of affliction inherent in the condition of imprisonment. The debate on prisoners’ health is therefore situated within the broader frame of the functions of punishment and on the political and cultural aspects of punitiveness, reflecting particularly on the opposition between less eligibility and the principle of equivalence of care. Keywords: prisons, prisoners’ rights, prison healthcare, equivalence of care, prison medicine DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/11-11-08 Publication date: June 30 th 2021