Prison Experience Research Articles

Exploring the social ties and diversity in the incarceration experience of Hispanic/Latino/Spanish individuals

The study starts by examining descriptive differences between incarcerated Hispanic/Latino/Spanish subgroups. Then, using three measures of social ties as dependent variables, explores whether using Hispanic/Latino/Spanish subgroup categories, as compared to a single category, reveals otherwise obscured differences. Compared to other subgroups Mexicans had a higher percentage of males and married individuals, and a lower percentage of individuals who were previously arrested. Puerto Rican/other Caribbeans had a higher percentage who were 29 years or younger. Regression analyses (N = 5,967) showed that before incorporating controls, Mexican individuals, compared to White individuals, had a higher likelihood of receiving letters or making calls. Collectively, these results underscore the need for further understanding ethnic identity and how this identity is associated with criminological experiences and outcomes.

Creating convict criminology in the UK: a response to Aresti, Darke and Ross from members of the British Convict Criminology group

Responding to an earlier article (Aresti et al, 2023) by two scholars involved in convict criminology at Westminster University and a third from the US, this article mounts a defence of the British Convict Criminology group against the analysis and conclusions of the first article. We argue that convict criminology is diverse and needs to embrace different approaches that correspond to national circumstances, both in prisons and universities. We suggest that far from stagnating, convict criminology in the UK is beginning to thrive and has much to offer critical criminology. This offer is strengthened by adopting critical and convivial academic practice supportive of people’s various efforts and experiences in British prisons and British universities. Our article offers a critical engagement with issues of nomenclature, convictism and coloniality which we believe will be important for an inclusive convict criminology for the future.

An Analysis of Systems of Influences through the Lens of Balanced Time Perspective: A Qualitative Study on a Group of Inmates.

To respond to the increasing challenges of the XXI century, career guidance is used as a device to reduce inequalities, to expand the range of opportunities for all people, to deconstruct the stereotypes and the stigmatizations that tend to relegate specific social categories to particular working niches, and to offer people the chance to express their differences and diversities. This study reports the results of research aimed at understanding the dynamics of career construction in people with imprisonment experience through the exploration of their systems of influences; the stories of the inmates were collected using My System of Career Influences (MSCI). In the analysis of the narratives and the systems of influences, the focus was placed on the balanced time perspective as a core dimension to foster career construction and to look at future possibilities. The results show that the participants are mainly focused on the past, and their focus on the present is narrow and seems to represent a moment of stalemate, preventing the possibility for inmates to imagine their future. Suggestions for practical implications of career counseling for inmates are provided, and the knowledge about the temporal orientation of prisoners will enable those who do not show any hope of achieving positive interactions to be reached and provide a higher degree of individualization for social rehabilitation proposals.

Assessing Gender Differences in Prison Rule Enforcement: A Focus on Defiance

This study focuses on gender disparities in defiance prison ­infractions—an understudied and highly discretionary type of rule violation—which have important implications for individuals’ prison experiences and outcomes. Using administrative data on a release population in a large western state (N = 23,818), we employed multilevel modeling techniques to test whether (1) women were more likely than men to receive defiance infractions; (2) whether women received a greater number of defiance infractions than men, and (3) whether the gender differences observed for defiance were unique from other types of infractions (e.g. any infraction, nonviolent, violent) net of individual- and prison unit-level controls. Results confirmed that defiance infractions are uniquely gendered, which subjects incarcerated women to harsh consequences for far less serious behavior than their male counterparts. Our work fills key gaps in the literature and contributes to recent policy reform efforts aimed at prison disciplinary reform.

Cripping the Archive: Analyzing Archival Disorder in the Yamashita Family Archives and Karen Tei Yamashita’s Letters to Memory

This article outlines a crip archival analysis of Karen Tei Yamashita’s creative family memoir Letters to Memory (2017) and the separate Yamashita Family Archives; the analysis revolves around the concept of disorder. The book and digital archives move the daily lived experience of incarceration out of chronological order, encouraging new connections across a massive collection of materials: letters, photographs, federal surveillance documents, paintings, sermons, and other ephemera surrounding World War II Japanese American incarceration. Their respective acts of assembling and retelling destabilize the dominant narrative of a resolved family or national trauma to reflect divergent embodied experiences of distress and disability effected by racial debilitation. Offering concentric analysis of textual and archival reordering via Asian American studies, disability studies, and digital humanities, this article adds alternative dimensions to the ongoing legacy of incarceration by inviting readers to create new constellations of meaning through examining temporal and embodied disorder. Reading the physical book and digital archives together also acts as a model for how literary studies scholars might complicate our attention to embodiment beyond narrative analysis, by thinking about disability and madness in the design and structure of texts and digital media. Through cripping the archive, the author calls for a reconceptualization of mad and disabled bodyminds as not only content to be examined, but also users and creators whose disorder animates alternative ways of knowing personal and state violence.

Caring for Male Prisoners Who Self-Harm: Perceptions, Attitudes and Experiences of Custodial Prison Staff and Male Prisoners in England

The aims of this research were to explore custodial prison staff and male prisoners’ perceptions toward self-harm, prison system responses and environmental impacts on self-harm. Four staff focus groups (thematic analysis) and 12 semi-structured interviews with male prisoners (interpretative phenomenological analysis) took place in three prisons in England. Prison staff attributed manipulative intention to self-harm; self-harming prisoners felt misunderstood. The prison environment and formal response processes were barriers for care access and provision. Recommendations include staff training in understanding and management of self-harm, supported by a care-focused culture, and fostering safety, security, empowerment and value for both prisoners and staff.

Out in the cold? The experiences of foreign national prisoners in Iceland's open prisons

Out in the cold? The experiences of foreign national prisoners in Iceland's open prisons

Paws for thought? Developing dog projects for older people in prison

PurposeThis study aims to assess the nature and scope of dog-based programmes in prisons, assessing critically the potential opportunities, benefits, challenges and risks of developing innovative dog-based programmes for older prisoners in England and Wales. This paper outlines the potential benefits and challenges of developing dog-based programmes for older prisoners and sets out next steps for future research and practice.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on a scoping review of published research literature on prison dog programmes (PDPs) in the USA, the UK and other countries, with particular reference to older people in prison, followed by semi-structured interviews with six members of an expert advisory group. The literature review and data from the qualitative interviews were analysed thematically.FindingsThere is a substantial body of published research literature which supports PDPs as having identifiable positive impacts for people and also dogs, and also published research which highlights the benefits to older people of dog ownership or participation in dog-based activities. However, much of this research is small-scale and qualitative, and it has been argued that there is a lack of a quantitative evidence base. This research concludes that findings from the literature review and the semi-structured interviews support further research and the creation of pilot projects to develop dog-based projects for older people in prison.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was small-scale, and the findings need to be approached with caution. The literature review searched a small number of databases and filtered out articles published in languages other than English, and the review of the grey literature focused on reports from the UK. The number of experts interviewed was small and there was no direct consultation with older people in prison nor with older people with recent personal lived experience of imprisonment and community resettlement. A more extensive future study would benefit from a more extensive literature review, a larger group of participants and the inclusion of service users, prison managers and government policymakers, subject to the appropriate ethical and security approvals. At the time the research took place, ongoing COVID-19 restrictions on prison research meant that research with current prisoners and prison managers would not have been approved by the HMPPS NRC.Practical implicationsThis research provides a research-based justification for future dog projects for older prisoners, leading potentially to improved well-being for older people in prison.Originality/valueThis study brings together the published research literature on PDPs with the research literature on the needs and experiences of older people in prison for the first time, and identifies potential directions for future research.

Solitary confinement and the well-being of people in prison

BackgroundSolitary confinement and mental well-being has been researched extensively, with a significant increase in studies over the last ten years. These recent studies produce mixed evidence for whether placement in solitary confinement is associated with psychological distress. We advance our understanding of these relationships in two critical ways. First, we conduct both between- and within-person analyses within the same data to better understand the relationship of solitary confinement and mental well-being relative to the well-being of people in less restrictive prison settings. Second, we ask the men in our sample questions about their personality style, coping strategies, and interactions with staff, which allows us to explore how individual characteristics and prison experiences matter, alongside isolation, in understanding mental well-being. MethodsWe gather data from interviews at three time points with 122 men in solitary confinement and 204 men in other conditions of confinement in Arizona from 2017 to 2019. We merge these interview data with administrative data on study sample and population sample to include critical measures such as mental health score, risk level, and visitation status. Our interviews contain a Global Severity Index (GSI), created from 90 self-reported psychopathological symptoms experienced, that we use to assess well-being. We estimate cross-classified multilevel models to assess between-person differences and within-person change in well-being over time. ResultsThere was a small relationship between solitary confinement and worsening well-bring (longitudinal, within-person) and a small relationship between solitary confinement and worse well-being (cross-sectional, between-person), with this between-person association reduced significantly upon inclusion of additional individual characteristics and prison experiences. ConclusionsOur results suggest that the incarceration experience, including conditions of confinement, is associated with mental well-being in different ways for different people. We believe that collective confinement and well-being could receive the same scholarly attention and public concern as solitary confinement.

Resocialization, gender and the Global South: A critical analysis of the concept through women's experiences in prisons in Peru

In this article, I critically assess the concept of resocialization through discussions with women in Santa Monica Prison, the largest women's prison in Peru in 2018 and with former women prisoners in 2021. Alongside the formal, institutional gendered and classed forms and ideas of resocialization imposed by the prison, the women themselves innovate and develop new, collective and individual pathways to change. While few entirely disrupt the traditional, gendered norms and penal expectations, in their everyday experiences and collective activities, women seek, and sometimes manage to free themselves from patriarchal mandates.

PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS IN THE MENTAL HEALTH OF PRISONERS (AZERBAIJAN CASE)

The main object of this study is to assess the prevalence of mental illness (diagnosis) and symptoms of psychopathology, evaluate the correlation between variables. (Independent variables: age, imprisonment years, marital status. Dependent variables: psychopathological symptoms). The survey study was conducted among inmates at correctional facilities in Azerbaijan. Participants were conducted from January 2023-March 2023. A total of participants was 45 male prisoners. Prisoners reported lifetime or current diagnosis of depression, anxiety, guilt feelings, tension, mental retardation and other disorder, as well as current mental health symptoms. Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-BPRS was used to measure the symptoms, and SPSS program for analyzing the statistics. Of the 50 inmates invited to participate, 45 (90%) of them were consistent with research (mean [SD] age, 41,1 [5.3] years; 45 [100%] male; imprisonment years 9,51 [2.9]; 26 [57,8%] of them have previous imprisonment experience, 19 [42,2%] of them don’t have any punishment before). A statistically significant positive correlation was examined between the increasing age factor of the prisoner and the symptoms of somatic anxiety, thought disorders, tension, mannerism and posturing, slowness of movements, disruption of social cooperation, unusual content of thoughts, blunting of affect (r= 0.633* *,*p<0.05, **p<0.01); a positive significance statistical correlation was examined between the increasing sentence duration and the mental health problems (r= 0.459**,*p<0.05, **p<0.01); Mental health problems of persons who had previous prison experience were higher than persons convicted for the first time, respectively: 31.7±10.1 and 28.53±9.4 (F=2.64; p=0.111; t=-1,08; df=43); Lack of family support was followed by negative consequences in their mental health. Thus, the total index of mental disorders in unmarried persons is 25.4±9.8; 27.06±6.4 in married people; 40±5.6 was obtained in divorced and isolated individuals. Moreover, educational factor of the prisoners shows its effect in maintaining their emotional stability and knowledge about mental health problems.

Examining the Potential Impact of Restricting Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Housing for Individuals With Certain Criminal Convictions in Texas

Because housing is central to the recovery of individuals with experiences of homelessness and incarceration, it is important to consider how U.S. policies denying housing to residents with criminal histories can adversely affect racial and ethnic minorities and individuals with a history of homelessness. The state of Texas passed a rule specifying certain criteria that Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) supportive housing providers must use to screen tenants using criminal history. A retrospective cohort of 600 LIHTC supportive housing residents was used to estimate the potential impact of the rule. Based on this sample, the rule would have resulted in significantly higher proportions of Black and chronically homeless individuals being denied housing compared to the proportions of White and low-income individuals, respectively, who would have been denied housing. With the exception of drug convictions, there was no significant difference in recidivism between residents who would have been affected by the rule and unaffected residents who also had criminal justice involvement within a comparable time frame before move-in.

Meanings and Experiences of Prisoners and Family Members Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Brazilian Prison Unit: A Grounded Theory Analysis.

Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic represented a health emergency for prisons. This study sought to understand the meanings and experiences through the narratives of prisoners and family members affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of a maximum-security state penitentiary complex in southern Brazil. For this purpose, a qualitative study was developed based on the methodological framework of constructivist grounded theory. Data were collected between February and August 2022 through individual in-depth interviews and field notes. The sample consisted of 41 participants: 28 male prisoners, and 13 family members. Guided by the Charmaz method of grounded theory analysis, the study afforded the core category "Feeling trapped in prison during the COVID-19 pandemic" with three interrelated phases: "Triggering", "Escalating", and "Readjustment". The "Triggering" phase refers to COVID-19-related elements or events that triggered certain reactions, processes, or changes in prison. During the "Escalating" phase, participants became overwhelmed by the suffering caused by incarceration and the pandemic crisis. The "Readjustment" phase involved adapting, reorienting, or reformulating previous approaches or strategies for dealing with a specific situation. Prisons faced complex challenges during the pandemic and were forced to prioritize protecting public health. However, the measures adopted must be carefully evaluated, ensuring their needs and that they are based on scientific evidence. The punitive approach can undermine inmate trust in prison authorities, making it difficult to report symptoms and adhere to preventive measures.

Disparities in Segregation for Prison Control: Comparing Long Term Solitary Confinement to Short Term Disciplinary Restrictive Housing

Following a recent study of disparities in solitary confinement (SC) placements in Florida, we examined related dis­parities in the use of extended restrictive housing in Ohio (SC conditions) while expanding the analysis to short term restrictive housing, a substantially more common prison experience. Analyses of 183,872 incarcerated persons (IPs) revealed substantive disparities in prevalence and incidence of placements in both short- and long-term restrictive housing (RH). Controlling for types of rule violations and other risk indicators, disparities emerged based on an IP’s sex, age, race, education, learning skills, substance abuse risk, and mental health. Many findings are consistent with the Florida study and extend to the more routine short term RH. Similar studies will be critical for generating a body of knowledge that may demonstrate the same types and levels of RH disparities regardless of prison system, contributing greatly to RH policy debates and critical criminological perspectives.

Psychological effects of collective political traumas and post-traumatic growth

Purpose Collective political traumas emerge from human behavior as a result of political motivation. These events include destructive and intense violence that disrupt the biopsychosocial processes of people in general. A study was conducted on individuals involved in the conflict between the Kurds in southeastern Turkey and security forces. This study aims to determine whether perceived social support, assumptions about the world, psychological resilience and psychological symptoms predict post-traumatic growth (PTG). In addition, the study examines whether differences existed between the participants’ PTG and the four cited variables according to the type of trauma and major sociodemographic variables. Design/methodology/approach This study recruited 324 individuals who completed the PTG Inventory, Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale, World Assumption Scale, Brief Psychological Resilience Scale and Symptom Checklist-90-R Symptom Screening List. Data were analyzed using regression analysis, ANOVA and t-test for independent groups. Findings Analysis revealed that assumptions about the world, perceived social support and level of psychological symptoms significantly predicted PTG level. The level of psychological symptoms was significantly higher among individuals exposed than those not exposed to prison. Moreover, participants with low levels of education and income displayed low levels of social support and psychological resilience but high levels of psychological symptoms. When working with victims of collective political trauma, the fact that people who are exposed to prison and torture experience and those with low socioeconomic levels pose serious risks in terms of psychological problems must be considered. Originality/value This research is important because it collects data on the effects of collective political traumas.

Experience of Imprisonment from the Perspective of Female Offenders in the Republic of Croatia

Scientific studies in criminology mainly neglect the criminality of women, especially the perspective of women prisoners. The aim of qualitative research was to examine the experience of imprisonment and institutional treatment for female prisoners. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview with 10 female prisoners in female penitentiary in Croatia. Research questions focused on the experience of stay in prison, treatment, perceived changes, suggestions for treatment improvement. Data were processed with inductive thematic analysis. Five topics have been separated: Expectations before coming to penitentiary, Experience of stay in penitentiary, Experience of treatment, Perception of personal changes, and Suggestions to improve the institutional treatment. It is necessary to continuously evaluate the treatment programs implemented in correctional institutions to determine their effectiveness, therefore the perspective of female prisoners can be an important criterion for the the creation of measures and policies pursued by the state regarding correctional institutions.

Spiritual Growth of Said Nursi and Aleksander Solzhenitsyn in Prison

The article explores the approaches of individuals from two different religious traditions regarding prison spirituality: Said Nursi, who received a comprehensive classical education and furthered his knowledge through modern education, and A. Solzhenitsyn, who initially grew up as an atheist but rediscovered his religious upbringing while imprisoned, subsequently strengthening his spirituality over time. The research objectives of this article are to delve into the personal, intellectual, and spiritual transformations of these two influential figures during their time in prison, examining their pursuit of inner peace and the expansion of the heart. Additionally, it analyzes their development in parallel with the works they wrote. The experience of incarceration provided them with an opportunity to reflect on their own lives, independently of each other, and diagnose the societal issues prevalent in their respective times, such as atheism, materialism, hedonism, lack of spirituality, and excessive consumption. They then attempted to propose and develop solutions to these issues, not only for their immediate circles but also for the wider public. Thus, it is useful to identify these commonalities and differences, and then, discuss them from the comparative theological perspective set up by Francis J. Clooney, S.J. Their profound understanding of this crucial task of improving the lives of others enabled them to endure the hardships of prison and transform its detrimental effects into more fruitful endeavors. While there are similarities in their reflections on faith and the human condition, there are also notable differences in their approaches and perspectives. Nursi’s prison spirituality centered on Islamic teachings and the pursuit of religious knowledge, while Solzhenitsyn’s focused on ethical, moral, and existential evaluations in the context of atheistic and authoritarian regimes.

Gendered Prison and Reentry Experiences: Perspectives From Rural People on Parole

The present study unites and builds on existing research about gendered reentry experiences and gender-responsive approaches in prison through its analysis of 74 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with people on parole. Taking a gender-responsive approach, the project’s twofold research question asked how rural people conceptualized men’s and women’s prisons as gendered institutions and the various ways in which they understand their individual experiences in prison as gendered. Analysis resulted in three primary themes: [1] structural and institutional gender discrimination; [2] solidarity as supportive for women versus solidarity as protective for men; and [3] emotional regulation in peer relationships. Taken together, our findings add nuance to understandings of the profound impact of gender on incarceration and reentry and offer support for the expansion of gender-responsive approaches to both men’s and women’s institutions.

The Cage of Days: Time and Temporal Experience in Prison

The Cage of Days: Time and Temporal Experience in Prison

A Stylistic and Thematic Analysis of Zambian Prison Poetry: The Case of Mwembeshi Maximum Security Prison

How the same theme is expressed in different poems, among different poets, is an interesting area of inquiry because style can determine the treatment of theme. Thus, this article dealt with a stylistic and thematic analysis of selected poems written by inmates of Mwembeshi Maximum Security Prison, and the relationship between the poetry and the prisoners’ prison experience. The study proceeded from the premise that inmate poetry offers authentic experience about life in prison. To achieve its aim the study utilised thematic and stylistic analysis of the poems. Among the key findings of the study is the idea that the poems were not only authentic but were reflection of the deepest feelings of the writers, thematically fresh and touching. The study concluded that most of the poems exhibit themes and stylistic approaches that reflect their prison lived experience and that not all poems use figures of speech to express their prison lived experience.