Experiences Of Custody Research Articles

The gendered trauma trajectories of mothers entering prison

Research has shown that many women involved in the criminal justice system have prior experiences of trauma and victimisation. This paper, based on qualitative narrative research with mothers, identifies the specific gendered trauma trajectories of mothers with experience of custody in England. This includes experiences of domestic abuse, removal of children and issues with perinatal mental health. In many instances, these issues are closely interrelated adding further layers of cumulative impact to the trauma experienced. Drawing on trauma theory and pathways theory, these experiences are then analysed and suggestions for mitigating the impact of this trauma are proposed.

Navigating pregnancy in detention: lived experiences in a Philippine women’s prison

PurposeImprisonment impacts women’s childbearing and mothering experiences. Using sociological concepts of total institutions, pains of imprisonment and gendered pains of imprisonment, this study aims to explore the childbearing experiences of 18 Filipino incarcerated women.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative, inductive approach was undertaken to explore imprisoned women’s pregnancy experiences. This research project used reflexive thematic analysis to examine the data from semi-structured interviews with 18 Filipino pregnant prisoners.FindingsThe participants’ experiences of childbearing in prison were reflected in three overarching themes: lack of autonomy over pregnancy; reduced capacity to manage discomforts and needs; and coping with prison deprivations. These themes embody women’s experiences of how imprisonment disrupts Filipino women’s childbearing and mothering experiences. Furthermore, the results illustrated how the women navigated the prison regime to address their needs and cope with the pains of imprisonment.Originality/valueAlthough there is a small but growing body of research specifically focusing on mothering and imprisonment, little consideration has been given to analyzing Filipino women’s pregnancy experiences in custody. This paper highlights an urgent need to reform correctional policies and practices to address incarcerated women’s distinct needs.

O09Punished with pregnancy: incarcerated pregnant individuals’ perspectives on abortion access and decision making in custody

<h3>Objectives</h3> To understand how being incarcerated shapes pregnant individuals' abortion desires, experiences, and access in this punitive, rights-limited, racially stratified environment. <h3>Methods</h3> From May 2018 to November 2020, we conducted semi-structured, qualitative interviews with pregnant incarcerated people in a prison and a jail each in two states, one abortion restrictive and one abortion supportive. Interviews explored whether participants considered abortion for this pregnancy; attempted to obtain an abortion in custody; whether and how incarceration affected their feelings about pregnancy, parenting, and abortion; and options counseling and prenatal care experiences in custody. <h3>Results</h3> We interviewed 38 people. Participants' abortion and pregnancy decisions were deeply shaped by the conditions of incarceration, and some experienced pregnancy continuation as punishment. Four themes emerged: (1) staff explicitly preventing people from accessing abortion, giving false information or imposing anti-abortion views on patients; (2) participants assuming that, because incarceration removes autonomy, they had no right to abortion; (3) temporal uncertainties of court and carceral medical care influencing abortion access; (4) degrading and traumatic conditions of incarceration, poor healthcare, and impending post-birth separation from infants made people wish they had obtained an abortion. Themes were similar in restrictive and supportive states. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Being incarcerated shaped pregnant people's abilities to access abortion, to consider whether it was even an option, their pregnancy decision-making processes, and their feelings about being pregnant. These subtle carceral control aspects were more prominent barriers to abortion than overt logistical ones. Incarceration constrains and devalues reproductive wellbeing, and in punitive ways that are a microcosm of broader forces of reproductive control in US society.

Cohort Profile: The Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender Study

In this profile, we describe how the Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender Study (ISVYOS) leveraged detailed administrative data to create a prospective longitudinal study. We also discuss the research and policy context at the time the ISVYOS was initiated, its methodology, and what has been learned so far. The ISVYOS includes 1,719 participants who were incarcerated in adolescence and followed through adulthood. Between 1998-2002 (Cohort I) and 2005-2011 (Cohort II), male and female youth were recruited for interviews that measured various risk and protective factors, experiences in custody, and attitudes towards the justice system. Follow-up data include measures of justice system involvement, risk assessment data, and social network data. Participants were an average age of 30.57 (SD = 4.65) as of December 2019. Over 90% of the sample was involved in the adult justice system. So far, research using ISVYOS data have addressed the reliability and validity of measures of psychopathy in adolescence, justice system criminal careers, risk factors for chronic and persistent offending, and the adult offending outcomes of youth involved in serious offenses (e.g., sexual offenses, homicide offense). Inquiries regarding data access should be sent to the first author.

Exploring the listener scheme in a women’s prison: the importance of a gendered approach to peer support for women who self-harm in custody

Purpose Without exception, research on the contribution of the Prison Listener Scheme as a form of peer support for those who self-harm in custody has focussed on men in prison. Women’s experience of custody is shaped by their experiences of hegemonic masculinity that also mediate through women’s roles as mothers and caregivers. Women’s self-harm is similarly influenced by these gendered experiences. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the Listener Scheme as a form of peer-to-peer support for women contributes to women managing their self-harm in a female prison. Design/methodology/approach The paper used a case study design with a mixed-methods approach using a quantitative questionnaire with prison staff (n = 65) and women in custody who had self-harmed (n = 30). Qualitative methods included a focus group with Prison Listeners (n10) and semi-structured interviews with women who self-harm (n10) and prison staff (n10). Four days were also spent observing the prison environment. Findings Findings suggest that women seek support from other women as peer Listeners for three main reasons; their previous difficult experiences with men, a displacement of the mother role and their attachment needs in custody. Research suggests that women often have significant addictions and mental health concerns and are more likely than their male counterparts to engage in self-harm (Prison Reform Trust, 2017). In addition, women’s self-harm acts as a coping method for “intrapersonal issues” which documents self-harm as a result of frustration and lack of control in custody as opposed to “interpersonal issues” which documents self-harm as a result of relationship difficulties with partners (Walker et al., 2017). This paper suggests that peer support schemes internationally should be tailored to providing support for these types of gendered experience to support women who self-harm in custody. This has implications for the training and support of Listeners in women’s prisons. Research limitations/implications This exploratory research was conducted in one female prison and while can be considered to test proof of concept is limited in its generalisability. Originality/value This paper suggests that Listeners providing peer-to-peer support for women in custody who self-harm may encounter triggers for this behaviour based on women’s experiences including; how women relate to men; women’s experience of the way custody displaces their role as mothers and women’s need for safe attachments in custody. These gendered experiences have implications for the training and development of peer support schemes in women’s prisons, such as the Listener scheme. Further research is needed to compare the gendered types of support Prison Listeners provide depending on whether they are in male or female prisons.

Psychological impact of being wrongfully accused of criminal offences: A systematic literature review.

Being wrongfully accused of criminal offences can lead to serious negative consequences to those wrongfully accused and their families. However, there is little research on the psychological and psychosocial impacts of wrongful accusations. We conducted a systematic literature review to collate the existing literature, searching four electronic literature databases and reference lists of relevant articles. Data were extracted from 20 relevant papers, and thematic analysis was conducted on the data. Eight main themes were identified: loss of identity; stigma; psychological and physical health; relationships with others; attitudes towards the justice system; impact on finances and employment; traumatic experiences in custody; and adjustment difficulties. The psychological consequences of wrongful accusations appear to affect the lives of those accused seriously, even after exoneration or overturning of convictions. Strategies for improving public perception of wrongful convictions should be explored, and specific mental-health systems should be established to support those who are wrongfully accused.

Disproportionate Experiences in Custody? An Examination of Minority Youths’ Outcomes in Secure Facilities

While a significant amount of literature has emphasized the identification and explanation of disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in the juvenile justice system, less research has examined racial disparities in postdisposition outcomes. This study seeks to address this gap through its examination of the experiences of youths in custody. Specifically, using a stratified, random subsample of 1514 youths confined in secure confinement facilities between 2010 and 2014 in one Midwestern state, this article explores whether youths’ race impacts in-facility outcomes, such as number of disciplinary infractions, time spent in seclusion, length of stay, and access to educational services, when case-level predictors are accounted for. Findings suggest that race has an inconsistent relationship with the outcomes experienced by youths in custody. However, significant mediating effects of disciplinary infractions on relationships between race and other outcomes appear to have significant implications for non-White youths in custody. Considering these findings, policy recommendations are discussed.

Black and Minority Ethnic Boys and Custody in England and Wales: Understanding Subjective Experiences through an Analysis of Official Data

Recent years have seen a dramatic shift in youth justice outcomes and a fall in the number of children drawn into the youth justice system in England and Wales. However, it appears that children from some backgrounds have not benefited as much as others from this change. There is a wealth of academic literature on processes of criminalisation, policies, and practices of youth justice and the experiences of children, particularly boys, in custody. However, there is little detailed understanding of how these processes, policies, and practices affect children from different backgrounds. This paper examines the most intrusive aspect of youth justice, namely, custodial sentences. Through an examination of the Inspectorate of Prisons’ reports and associated surveys, this paper seeks to explore black and minority ethnic boys’ perceptions of their experiences of custody.

Experiencing Youth Justice: Process, Meaning and Legitimacy

This policy briefing paper reports on findings from a study funded by the Youth Justice Agency, which explored the transitions of young people into and beyond Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre (JJC). Using a longitudinal qualitative approach which involved baseline life-history interviews along with follow-up interviews upon release, it explored from the perspectives of young people their: life histories – including family, school, community, employment; contacts with the criminal justice system; experiences of system contact; routes into custody; experiences of custody; plans for release, and challenges of transition from custody.

Addressing the efficacy of dihydrocodeine versus methadone as an alternative maintenance treatment for opiate dependence: a randomized controlled trial

The aim of this study is to define the efficacy of dihydrocodeine as an alternative to methadone in the maintenance treatment of opiate dependence. A pragmatic open-label randomized controlled study of patients recommended for opiate maintenance treatment to test equivalence of the two treatment options with follow-up continuing for up to 42 months after recruitment. Assessment at either Edinburgh's Community Drug Problem Service or at two general practitioner practices with specialist drug community psychiatric nurses, then with shared care follow-up. Two hundred and thirty-five subjects (168 male, 67 female) with opiate dependence syndrome were recruited. Subjects selected were suitable for opiate maintenance treatment. Routine treatment was offered throughout. Patients were randomized to receive either methadone mixture 1 mg/ml or dihydrocodeine, 30 mg or 60 mg tablets. The primary outcome measure was retention in treatment. Eight secondary outcomes included total illicit opiate use, reported crime, physical health, mental health, injecting drug use, overdoses, selling drugs and being in education or work. Measures were compared over 42 months follow-up. There was no difference in groups for retention in treatment at follow-up and there was improvement in all secondary outcomes from baseline. No significant difference in outcomes was found between randomized groups over time. Compliance with randomized treatment differed by randomized group and was affected by experiences in custody during follow-up. Those randomized to dihydrocodeine were more likely to switch treatments. These results, combined with existing clinical experience, provide evidence that dihydrocodeine is a viable alternative to methadone as a maintenance treatment for opiate dependence. Indirect comparisons with other studies show dihydrocodeine (and methadone) to be superior to placebo.

The psychological impact of custody on the aboriginal adolescent

This study examined the psychological impact of custody on 39 Aboriginal and 42 Non‐Aboriginal adolescents aged 12–18 years. Anxiety, depression, hopelessness, locus of control, self‐efficacy beliefs and coping or problem beliefs were examined. Results indicate that Aboriginal adolescents experience a greater sense of anxiety about custody than Non‐Aboriginal adolescents. This level of anxiety experienced appears related to anxiety beliefs regarding their experience of custody and a significantly high level of negative beliefs about custody. Aboriginal adolescents were also found to have poorer coping skills linked to lower self‐efficacy and more external locus of control than Non‐Aboriginal adolescents. Clinical implications that could be considered might include the development of culturally sensitive programmes that assist in the reduction of anxiety and a more comprehensive induction and supervision process for Aboriginal adolescents in custody.

DAY CENTRE RECONVICTION RATES

Since their introduction in the Criminal Justice Act 1982, probation day centres have assumed an important role in the work of the probation service and as a sentencing option. This paper discusses the success of day centres in terms of their reconviction rates, while pointing to the limitations of relying solely on this criterion as a measure of success. It is concluded that, taking account of the high-risk offenders who tend to be the recipients of a day centre order (17–25 years old, with several previous convictions and experience of custody), the reconviction rates of centres are not unacceptable, although wide variation among centres merits further study.

Adolescents' experiences of parental separation and divorce

This paper reports preliminary results of interviews with 71 divorced parents and 50 of their adolescent children. The interviews took place five to six years after divorce, and the sample was reasonably representative of divorced Edinburgh families having children aged 10-13 at divorce. Qualitative analysis shows a lack of explanations to children about the reasons for their parents' separation. The children's feelings are described, together with their experiences of custody and of access or lack of access. Finally, the children's reactions are given to their parents' new partners. Some of the children remain unconvinced of the need for their parents to separate, and some are still sad and hurt.