Belgian Prisons Research Articles

Effect of ALA‐Enriched Food Supply on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Males

The outcome of a total dietary approach using a wide range of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) enriched food items on cardiovascular diseases called for further investigation. The study objective was to assess the effect of an ALA-enriched food supply on cardiovascular risk factors in healthy males. A dietary intervention (single-blind field trial with pre- and post-measurements) was performed with 59 healthy males in a Belgian prison. Over a period of 12 weeks they were supplied with an n-3 enriched diet (containing 6.5 g n-3 PUFA/day compared to 4 g n-3 PUFA/day in the standard diet) that was substituted for their regular diet, increasing mainly the alpha-linolenic acid intake (from 2.8 to around 5 g/day). The results indicated no impact on subjects waist circumference, weight and BMI or systolic blood pressure. In contrast, the diastolic blood pressure significantly decreased during the intervention period (from 74.6 +/- 8.2 to 71.7 +/- 10.1 mmHg; P < 0.02). Moreover, the HDL-cholesterol level increased in non-smoking participants (from 0.97 +/- 0.25 to 1.06 +/- 0.23 mmol/l; P < 0.03). In summary, the study demonstrated that enrichment of commonly eaten food items with n-3 fatty acids provides the opportunity to increase the n-3 fatty acid intake and to decrease the n-6/n-3 ratio which results in a decreasing diastolic blood pressure and an increase of HDL-cholesterol (in non-smokers).

Cross-Cultural Reliability and Generality of the Megargee Offender Classification System

The cross-cultural reliability and generality of the offender classification system developed by E. I. Megargee et al. was examined. A hierarchical cluster analytic approach was used to identify Megargee's Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—2 based types in a sample of Belgian male federal prisoners ( N = 1,636). Six types (i.e., Able, Charlie, Delta, Easy, How, and Item) were clearly replicated, albeit with variable reliability in terms of goodness-of-fit. Types Baker, Foxtrot, George, and Jupiter were not supported. Instead, another meaningful MMPI-2 type was identified, labelled 4-6, because Scales 4 and 6 were the two highest scales with a T score of 65 or higher. Cross-national cluster analytic research is necessary to further examine the cross-cultural reliability and generality of the types identified in the current study.

Compatible victims? Prison overcrowding and penal reform in Belgium

The Belgian criminal justice system has recently gone through a period of unprecedented legislative reform. One of the major innovations has been the establishment of a new type of tribunal which is responsible for decision-making and follow-up related to the execution of penal sanctions ( tribunal de l’application des peines/strafuitvoeringsrechtbank). This new institution is created and regulated by two pieces of legislation, formally approved in May 2006. The paper discusses the Parliamentary trajectory of this reform and pays special attention to how a victim's perspective (that is, the enactment of certain types of information and hearing rights for certain categories of victims of crime) came to be included in the new regulation. It is argued that one of the most important implications of the whole reform (that is, the future loss of Ministerial control with respect to managing the prison population) has contributed to the legal construction of the victim in the legal proposal as submitted by the Government to the Senate. The provisions in this legal proposal which related to victims of crime needed to be ‘compatible’ with an age-old problem of serious prison overcrowding. The legal proposal, therefore, was oriented towards defining victims in such a way that giving them a role in the post-sentencing phase would not hamper the smooth release of inmates out of the Belgian prison system.

High and variable use of primary care in prison. A qualitative study to understand help‐seeking behaviour

High and variable rates of attendance at GP consultations in prisons are observed. The aim of the study is to have a clearer understanding of social factors influencing inmates' help-seeking behaviour and demand for primary health care. A qualitative study was carried out in five Belgian prisons (three Dutch-speaking and two French-speaking). Twenty-five male inmates were interviewed face-to-face and 18 caregivers (7 nurses and 11 GPs) in focus groups. Five main social factors explain inmates' help-seeking behaviour and demand for primary health care: (1) inmates' negative perception of imprisonment increases help-seeking behaviour; (2) inmates use their rights to health care as strategies to maintain some form of control over their lives; (3) the doctor's role distorts expression of need and demand; (4) health professionals' control over inmates' lives creates mistrust and a controlling therapeutic relationship; and (5) lack of alternatives to health care. These factors are mutually dependent and cause a confrontation in the inmates' and clinicians' agendas. The most important recommendation is to understand what the inmates are really seeking in their demands. This information can be used to develop appropriate alternatives in terms of human support and well-being facilities. The therapeutic and security roles of health care workers should be separated, in order to increase the trust that is central to the therapeutic relationship between them and inmates.

Using the Megargee System among Belgian Prisoners: Cross-Cultural Prevalence of the MMPI-2 Based Types

On the basis of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and later the MMPI-2, E. I. Megargee and colleagues empirically developed a classification system to enhance management and treatment of offenders throughout the criminal justice system. This preliminary study extended the application of the MMPI-2 based system for the first time to a non-U.S. prison sample and classified the MMPI-2 profiles of 1,636 male inmates from Belgian federal prisons. The typology was capable of classifying most of the subjects and all 10 Megargee types were represented. Compared to American prevalence data, types Delta and Charlie were overrepresented and type George was underrepresented. Issues that warrant further investigation are discussed.

How do drug-involved incarcerated and recently released offenders and correctional treatment staff perceive treatment? A qualitative study on treatment needs and motivation in Belgian prisons

The research seeks to identify the most common problem areas and associated treatment needs of incarcerated and recently released offenders, to determine the importance of prison-based treatment and to assess the motivation of offenders towards treatment. Interviews were scheduled with representatives of three participant categories: drug-involved incarcerated offenders (n=18), recently released prisoners (n=15) and treatment staff members (n=18), resulting in 1971 statements. Using the qualitative software package WinMAX98, these expressions were categorized in a tree structure, after a codification process of the raw material. The results suggest that there is a difference in opinion between offenders and service providers with regard to the most important problems related to incarceration and re-entry. The findings further indicate that released offenders struggle more often than incarcerated offenders with problems concerning their psychological status. Therefore, the need for continuous through-care and aftercare is apparent, as is the necessity to assess the participants’ support expectancies and their individual needs. Motivating offenders to take part in (prison-based) treatment initiatives and aftercare is a major challenge, which can be accomplished by cooperation and partnerships between the criminal justice system and community-based treatment providers.

Personality Disorders and Romantic Adult Attachment

This study analyzed personality disorders in a group of 33 securely and 51 insecurely attached child molesters. A total of 51 child molesters were selected from a community based educational training program, and the other group was selected from a Belgian prison (n = 33). Research shows that adult attachment styles and personality disorders share a common underlying structure. It is remarkable that very little is known about differences between securely and insecurely attached child molesters. In this study, the authors found that the schizoid personality disorder differed between securely and insecurely attached child molesters. These findings have implications for the aetiology and treatment of child molesters. Future research is necessary to determine patterns of attachment in relationship to personality disorders.

Victims, Knowledge(s) and Prisons: Victims Entering the Belgian Prison System

Victims, Knowledge(s) and Prisons: Victims Entering the Belgian Prison System

The Future of Remand Custody and its Alternatives in Belgium

Abstract: Searching for solutions to Belgian prison overcrowding, the authors examine how both the admissions into remand and the average length of remand custody can be reduced. Belgian alternatives to remand custody are compared to foreign initiatives aiming either at limiting the application of remand custody (judicial authorisation, regional quota, legal restrictions and guidelines) or at increasing the application of alternatives for remand custody (electronic monitoring and the creation of a special service in the courthouse).

Longitudinal study on the prevalence of benzodiazepine (mis)use in a prison: importance of the analytical strategy.

This study evaluates the suitability of gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analysis to follow-up the extent of benzodiazepine (mis)use in a Belgian prison population and compares it to other analytical strategies (e.g. screening followed by confirmation of the positive samples). From February to August 1998, 598 persons were jailed of which 188 (31.4% of the incoming detainees) volunteered to be screened. Urine samples (530 in total) were collected on the day of arrival and after 14, 30 and 90 days of imprisonment. All samples were screened by EMIT(R) for benzodiazepines and analysed subsequently by GC-MS. EMIT(R) screening yielded 117 (22.1%) positive samples, a number which increased to 174 (32.8%) after GC-MS analysis. Of these 174 GC-MS positive samples, 119 (68.4%) contained one benzodiazepine while for the remaining samples multiple benzodiazepine (mis)use could be demonstrated. A significant increase in benzodiazepine (mis)use was indicated only from day 0 to day 14 based on the GC-MS results but not on the immunoassay results, even when the latter were complemented with GC-MS analysis of the positively screened samples. The GC-MS data also demonstrated that benzodiazepines are mainly (mis)used by subjects on benzodiazepine prescription as almost 50% of these subjects took additional non-prescribed benzodiazepines. During GC-MS analysis other drugs were co-extracted unintentionally and chromatographed and 23.9% of the volunteers were positive for illegal drugs on the day of arrival. Immunoassay results yield an underestimation of the problem of benzodiazepine (mis)use in prison due to the high false negative rate. GC-MS analysis of all samples therefore is the recommended strategy for this type of longitudinal study as it yields more correct and detailed information than the immunoassay results.

Experiences of creative workshops in Belgian prisons

To our knowledge, in Belgium, no occupational therapist has ever been employed to work in a prison environment. However; one occupational therapist is working on a voluntary basis, once a week, in a prison in Dendermonde (in Belgium Flemish speaking region) and an artist has been organising a creative workshop in a women's prison for the last ten years. This artist was appointed by the Ministry of Culture (in Belgium French speaking region) and has written a book describing the evolution of the workshop. Both Anne Colpaert and Yvonne Cattier show us that a prison does not cure but that activities can help to rebuild self-respect and group dynamic can prepare prisoners for a new start in their lives when the doors are opened.

Imprisonment and cognitive impairment

Examined the hypothesis that imprisonment leads to cognitive impairment. The author presents a review of empirical studies and data of a research project carried out in Belgian prisons. In this latter project the Progressive Matrices were administered individually to 90 inmates in three Belgian prisons. All Ss were male, but differed in age, type of crime, and length of incarceration. Regression analysis was carried out to determine the effect of length of imprisonment on PM IQ-scores. Regression analysis was repeated for subgroups of offenders (against persons and against property). R2 and beta values never reached levels of statistical significance, which indicates that intellectual functioning was not influenced by length of imprisonment.

Prison Reform in Belgium Since the War

F one is to understand the reforms of Belgian prisons since 1945, it is necessary to cast a quick glance at the past to learn the background of this new developmental stage. It is a striking fact, for that matter, that each essential stage in the history of our prison reform has arisen out of social problems or political conflicts in which Belgium has been involved. The reforms begun in 1945 confirm that rule. In Belgium the first penitentiary institution worthy of that name was the house of correction at Ghent, begun in 1772 on the plans of Councilor Vilain XIIII.1 A decree dated November 12, 1770, and signed by Charles of Lorraine invited the Council of his States of Flanders to search for effective means

Belgian Prisons: the Treatment of Reprieved Criminals

Belgian Prisons: the Treatment of Reprieved Criminals

Prison Reform in Belgium

An interesting and exceedingly important social experiment is being carried out in Belgium, the reorganization of the penal institutions in accord with modern, scientific concepts of the nature of the criminal and the aim of punishment. Because of the considerable part which American experience and influence has played in the orientation of this reform it might be valuable to outline the background, the present attainment, and the future scope of the new order. In doing this the writer proposes to avoid any detailed discussion of technique and machinery, a task which would require considerable space. The prison system before the war represented the life work of one man and the triumph of one idea. The man was Pdouard Ducpetiaux (1804-1868) who, in 1830, became inspector general of the prisons of the country. This brilliant young lawyer, who had already won a fair amount of political fame when he accepted his new post, became, like many of his contemporaries, an ardent supporter of the Pennsylvania system, which was just beginning its triumphant conquest of Europe. Due to his ability and influence he succeeded in introducing this system in Belgium, in prisons specially built or converted for the purpose. The seemingly judicious use of constant cellular confinement brought apparently good results and until the Great War these prisons were known far and wide as models of their kind. According to the adversaries of the cell used for solitary confinement over long periods, the success was chimerical. "The most absolute empiricism, ruled in the treatment of the inmates," says Vervaeck, "those who succeeded in penetrating the numerous doors for a visit of the establishment marvelled at the perfect, rigid, impeccable mechanism, which reigned, the order, the cleanliness, the calm, the automatic methodicity governing the administration. The management by devoted and intelligent officials, assisted by a personnel under military discipline, gave a reassuring impression of security and comfort, permitting the visitor to leave convinced that society could not be better defended or the criminals better treated than in the Belgian prisons."' In the course of time certain mitigations had been introduced. The sick received special care, of course, and mental examinations