Contacts Of Prisoners Research Articles

The Consequences of the Pandemic in the Hungarian Penitentiary System

The Covid-19 epidemic put significant pressure on national penitentiary services all over the world to control the impacts of the pandemic on closed prison environments. The prison services of the member states of the Council of Europe responded with incredible speed and effectiveness with preventive and administrative measures to prevent the spread of the virus. The objective of the Council of Europe, EuroPris and other international organisations, was to support the member states’ responses to the situation in prisons by facilitating the exchange of information and best practices. The present study examines and analyses the statements and recommendations of the most important bodies and committees of the Council of Europe, in parallel with measures and solutions implemented in Hungary, in the light of international recommendations.The paper is based on a descriptive analysis of the Council of Europe expectations and recommendations and their applicability in the Hungarian prison system. Hungary has successfully processed and incorporated almost all of the expectations of the international parties, in fact, the country took further steps to make the pandemic’s outreached contacts of prisoners and relatives more colourful and active.Prevention and control measures adopted in a timely manner were effective both in Hungary and in other Council of Europe member states. This study highlights the critical importance of rapid and appropriate actions by international control bodies and the open and cooperative response of the national prison services.

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Hungarian Penitentiary System and Its Transformation Processes

The Covid-19 epidemic has put significant pressure on national penitentiary services all over the world to control the impacts that the pandemic has on closed prison environments. The prison services of the member states of the Council of Europe have responded with incredible speed and effectiveness with preventive and administrative measures to prevent the spread of the virus. The objective of the Council of Europe, EuroPris and other international organisations, was to support the member states’ responses to the situation in prisons by facilitating the exchange of information and best practices. The present study examines the statements and recommendations of the most important bodies and committees of the Council of Europe, in parallel with measures and solutions implemented in Hungary, in the light of international recommendations. The paper is based on a descriptive analysis of the Council of Europe expectations and recommendations and their applicability in the Hungarian prison system. Hungary has successfully processed and incorporated mostly all of the expectation of the international parties, in fact, he took further steps to make the pandemic’s outreached contacts of prisoners and relatives more colourful and active. Prevention and control measures adopted in timely manner were effective also in Hungary, as well in other Council of Europe member state. This study highlights the critical importance of fast and reasonable actions of international control bodies and the open and cooperative response of the national prison services.

The Impact of Covid-19 on Prisons and Penal Policy in Germany

ABSTRACT In Germany, the situation of prisons before the outbreak of the Covid-19-pandemic was quite relaxed as the prison population was in decline and overcrowding not a problem. However, there was a special problem with fine defaulters, who comprise about 10% of the daily adult German prison population. Short-term prisoners in general are a problem resulting in a large influx of possibly infected people. Since March 2020 all German Federal states stopped (or reduced) incarcerating fine defaulters and some states went further, not executing prison sentences of up to one or even up to three years. The prison population dropped from about 77 per 100,000 inhabitants to 67. Prison conditions, however, worsened because of restricted contacts of prisoners with the outside world. On the other side, access to internet communication was introduced in order to compensate the lockdown of personal visits and of prison leaves. Since June some of the restrictions were repealed, as the pandemic was under control and almost no infections were observed for prisoners. Visits and prison leaves gradually are allowed again in a limited way. Further crime policy considerations to abolish or reduce fine default and other short-term imprisonment are discussed.

Keeping connected while living apart: an exploration of a prison contact maintenance program

With the increase in incarceration rates, researchers have turned their attention to the broader social implications of removing family members from home and putting them behind bars. This causes a major disruption, particularly when considering the impact this has on the family when the mother is the one in prison. In order to alleviate these harms, contact maintenance programs, which are designed to provide enhanced contact between parents and children during periods of incarceration, are instituted to help maintain these relationships. The purpose of this project is to explore incarcerated women’s perspectives of one of these programs, the Connecting with Kids Program (CKP), at a Midwestern correctional facility (MCF). Thirty-four in-depth interviews were conducted with participants in the program, and themes surrounding the unique services provided emerged, such as enhanced visitation programs and technologically enhanced communication and the privacy and family environment fostered by these programs. These findings have important implications for future policies regarding gender specific prison programing, contact maintenance programs, and incarcerated people’s welfare and societal reintegration.

Clues to Reversing the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Portrait of a Scholar

The purpose of this article is to make an overlooked source of knowledge accessible to school teachers and administrators in order to challenge the prevalent discourse of cultural deprivation in urban schools and thus provide a more equitable education for all. Little is known about rich knowledge and self-education practices within prisons which could contribute to culturally relevant pedagogy as well as decrease the stigma of prison contact. Using portraiture methodology, we present a portrait of EL’YAH’el, a formerly-incarcerated African American man who participated in self-education in prison as both a student and a teacher. Framing our work with reality pedagogy, we contend that understanding the traditions of self-education in prison can provide clues for teacher education programs committed to acknowledging and building upon their students’ realities. We suggest the flow of knowledge from prisons to schools as the prison-to-school pipeline and conclude with recommendations for pedagogy and policy.

The differential effects of prison contact on parent–child relationship quality and child behavioral changes

ABSTRACT The children of prisoners can suffer from behavioral issues, poor school performance, and heightened risk of crime and delinquency. Separation is part of what makes incarceration a punishment, but what can be done to ensure that it has the least harmful effect on children? Using data from the Arizona Prison Visitation Project, the current study seeks to examine the influence of different types of prison contact (inperson, mail, and phone) and frequency of contact on parent-child relationship quality and how those changes in relationship quality may influence child behavior. Examining results from the parent (n = 127) and child (n = 293) level, the study finds that in-person visitation can increase relationship quality, with mail and frequent phone contact also beneficial.

Structuring dissident desire: representations of same-sex prison contact in contemporary South African culture

The figure of the prisoner, particularly as associated with the Numbers gangs in South African prison gangs, is both a hyper-masculine and (homo-)eroticized character. Prison allows for a state of being queer that, through its subject having already been criminalised, and escapes the stigma of feminization associated with it in the hierarchically gendered society outside of prison. Through the structure of the gang and in the confines of the prison, same-sex desire is at the centre of criminality and masculinity. At the same time, prison allows a space in which same-sex desire is countenanced; it thus becomes a literary setting fraught with same-sex eroticism. This essay considers the extent to which the masculinities of prison have become conflated with notions of an eroticized homosexual threat and the politics and fates of such threat inside and outside the jail walls. It reads a film (Proteus, 2003), non-fiction text (The Number, 2010, by Jonny Steinberg), short fiction (by Jan van Tonder), and play (Tertius Kapp’s Rooiland, 2013).

A mapping review of take-home naloxone for people released from correctional settings

BackgroundPeople released from correctional settings are at an elevated risk of opioid overdose death in the weeks immediately following release. However, it is not well understood how this population, as a particularly high-risk group, is included in, and benefits from take-home naloxone (THN) programs. The objective of this review is to map research into THN for people released from correctional settings in order to identify further research needs. MethodWe searched electronic databases, grey literature, and conference abstracts for reports on THN for people in or released from correctional settings. Studies were categorised into themes defined by the study’s aims and focus. Results from each study were summarised by theme. ResultsWe identified 19 studies reporting on THN programs for people released from correctional settings. Studies have examined attitudes towards naloxone among people in custody or recently released from custody (theme 1), and among non-prisoner stakeholders such as prison staff (theme 2). Evaluations and interventional studies (theme 3) have examined process indicators and approaches to naloxone training, including for contacts of prisoners, but there are challenges in assessing health outcomes of THN in the correctional context. Case reports suggest that training in correctional settings translates to action post-release (theme 4). ConclusionThe feasibility of THN in the context of release from a correctional setting has been established, but there is a need for rigorous research into health outcomes and program implementation. This is an emerging field of study and ongoing assessment of the state of the literature and research needs is recommended.

Tuberculosis in prisoners and their contacts in Chile: estimating incidence and latent infection.

Contact investigation of tuberculosis (TB) patients in Chilean prisons. 1) To estimate TB incidence and the prevalence of latent tuberculous infection (LTBI) among prisoners and their contacts; and 2) to determine factors associated with disease transmission. Cross-sectional study conducted in 46 prisons (51% of the total prison population) to assess the prevalence of and risk factors for LTBI among contacts of prisoners newly diagnosed with pulmonary TB. We used in vitro interferon-gamma release assays to establish LTBI and a questionnaire to address risk factors. During the 1-year follow-up, we studied 418 contacts of 33 active TB cases. We found high TB incidence (123.9 per 100,000 prisoners) and high LTBI prevalence (29.4%) among contacts. LTBI rates are significantly higher in prison inmates than in non-prisoners (33.2% vs. 15.6%). Male sex, illicit drugs, malnutrition, corticosteroid use, low educational level and sharing a cell with a case increase the risk of LTBI. Multivariate analyses showed that corticosteroid use, duration of incarceration and overcrowding are the most relevant determinants for LTBI among all contacts. Our results confirm that incarceration increases the risk of tuberculous infection and TB disease, and that it was associated not only with origin from vulnerable groups, but also with the prison environment. Reinforcing TB control is essential to prevent TB transmission in prisons.

The Gatekeepers of Contact

As gatekeepers, caregivers play a pivotal role in the facilitation of parental prison contact, and some caregivers may be more likely to take children to visit than others. To advance prior work, I used data collected from structured interviews with prisoners in Arizona to test two hypotheses. Specifically, I expected that children with grandmothers ( n = 684) and children with mothers ( n = 300) would be more likely to visit mothers and fathers in prison relative to other child–caregiver dyads. Logistic regression analyses confirmed these hypotheses in both maternal and paternal models, independent of controls. Child situational factors, prisoner characteristics, stressors, and institutional barriers also predicted visits; although effects differed depending upon which parent was in prison. By providing insight into the maintenance of family ties during confinement, this study informs research and policy with respect to prison contact and reentry.

Lifelong Learning Programs in Prison: Influence of Social Networks on Participation

This paper investigates the relationships between social contacts of prisoners and participation in lifelong learning activities. Literature on factors related to the decision to participate mainly concentrate on personal or on organizational level. Factors affecting the relational level are seldom taken into consideration. Based on a literature review and analysis of focus groups, the findings demonstrate the positive as well as the negative relationships on a wide range of social networks. The discussion highlights the need to acknowledge the importance of social networks and demonstrates how these findings may be implemented in order to optimize lifelong learning programs in prison.

Les prémices de Thiaroye: L’influence de la captivité allemande sur les soldats noirs français à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale

Abstract After repressing the mutiny of West African ex-prisoners in Thiaroye near Dakar on 1 December 1944, the French military authorities concluded that the German treatment of these prisoners had made them prone to revolting. Allegedly, the Germans had planned to destabilize French colonialism by treating the prisoners well (despite the German army massacres of black French soldiers in June 1940) and by allowing black prisoners to enter into intimate relationships with white French women. The article critically analyzes the explanations of the French authorities for the revolt of Thiaroye, tracing the motivations of the ex-prisoners to the way they interpreted Free French policies after liberation in the context of their captivity experience. It argues that the relatively correct German treatment of the African POWs after the summer of 1940 and the contacts of prisoners with French civilians were circumstantial and not part of a deliberate German policy to incite revolts in the French colonies. Ultimately, the unruliness of African ex-prisoners resulted much less from German measures than from the disillusioning experience of the soldiers with the Vichy and Free French authorities during and after captivity, which formed a powerful contrast to the mostly friendly and respectful treatment of the Africans by the French civilian population.

Les prémices de Thiaroye: L’influence de la captivité allemande sur les soldats noirs français à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale

After repressing the mutiny of West African ex-prisoners in Thiaroye near Dakar on 1 December 1944, the French military authorities concluded that the German treatment of these prisoners had made them prone to revolting. Allegedly, the Germans had planned to destabilize French colonialism by treating the prisoners well (despite the German army massacres of black French soldiers in June 1940) and by allowing black prisoners to enter into intimate relationships with white French women. The article critically analyzes the explanations of the French authorities for the revolt of Thiaroye, tracing the motivations of the ex-prisoners to the way they interpreted Free French policies after liberation in the context of their captivity experience. It argues that the relatively correct German treatment of the African POWs after the summer of 1940 and the contacts of prisoners with French civilians were circumstantial and not part of a deliberate German policy to incite revolts in the French colonies. Ultimately, the unruliness of African ex-prisoners resulted much less from German measures than from the disillusioning experience of the soldiers with the Vichy and Free French authorities during and after captivity, which formed a powerful contrast to the mostly friendly and respectful treatment of the Africans by the French civilian population.

Interracial prison contact: The pros for (socially dominant) cons

Individuals high in social dominance orientation (SDO; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) endorse group hierarchies and social inequality. Surprisingly little research has addressed contextual factors associated with reduced intergroup biases among such individuals. The present investigation considers a Person x Situation approach to this question in two British prisons, exploring the contextual factors outlined in the Contact Hypothesis (Allport, 1954). White inmates scoring higher in SDO exhibited significantly less in-group bias when reporting increased contact with Black inmates (Studies 1 & 2), when perceiving that favourable contact conditions are institutionally supported (Study 1), or when experiencing more pleasant personal interactions with Black inmates (Study 2). These SDO x Contact Condition moderation effects were mediated in Study 2: among high-SDO individuals, increased empathy towards Black inmates mediated the relation between contact variables and lower in-group bias. Implications for considering individual differences and empathy in contact settings are considered.