International Prison Research Articles

Developing an initial programme theory for a model of social care in prisons and on release (empowered together): A realist synthesis approach.

Many people are living in prison with a range of social care needs, for example, requiring support with washing, eating, getting around safely, and/or maintaining relationships. However, social care for this vulnerable group is generally inadequate. There is uncertainty and confusion about who is legally responsible for this and how it can best be provided, and a lack of integration with healthcare. We used realist-informed approaches to develop an initial programme theory (IPT) for identifying/assessing social care needs of, and providing care to, male adults in prison and on release. IPT development was an iterative process involving (a) an initial scoping of the international prison literature; (b) scoping prison and community social care policy documents and guidelines; (c) full systematic search of the international prison social care literature; (d) insights from the community social care literature; (e) stakeholder workshops. Information from 189 documents/sources and stakeholder feedback informed the IPT, which recommended that models of prison social care should be: trauma-informed; well integrated with health, criminal justice, third-sector services and families; and person-centred involving service-users in all aspects including co-production of care plans, goals, and staff training/awareness programmes. Our IPT provides an initial gold standard model for social care provision for people in prison and on release. The model, named Empowered Together, will be evaluated in a future trial and will be of interest to those working in the criminal justice system, care providers and commissioners, local authorities, housing authorities, voluntary groups, and service-users and their families.

Respect for human rights in the Romanian penitentiary system. Good practices in international prison systems. Pro Universitaria Publishing House, Bucharest, 2024. Alexandru Petre

Respecting human rights in prison represents one of the most important issues when we speak about detention. The quality of prison life is depending on a series of factors, which can influence the behaviour of detainees. Romania is subject of criticism regarding the prison condition, with multiple convictions at European Human Rights Court and still the number of incidents are not higher than those happening in other countries with better detention conditions. The author presents the results of a research focused on the relation between prison service quality, detention condition and medical treatment of the inmates and their behaviour. The conclusion of his study complemented with the good practices identified at international level can represent a guide for improvement of practices and policies within prison service.

Prison Overcrowding and Harsh Conditions: Health and Human Rights Concerns to Persons in Custody, Staff, and the Community

The article explored overcrowding in Ghana prisons and sought to understand its impact on the health and well-being of persons in custody and prison officers. Qualitative data from 38 participants who were serving terms or working in three prison facilities in Ghana revealed three themes, including (a) fear over the spread of communicable diseases, (b) limited access to basic resources, and (c) psychological and emotional burden, attributing them to overcrowding in the prisons. We discussed the findings from human rights and prison and public security perspectives and concluded that addressing overcrowding in prisons would ensure a healthy prison environment, which may have implications for the well-being and human rights of persons in custody, as well as public safety and the health of prison officers and the community. To achieve a healthy prison, policies should target prison depopulation and commitment from stakeholders to implement local and international prison rules and conventions.

Faddey Gregorovich as the Pioneer of Penitentiary Law Doctrine at the Kazan University: His Fate and Legacy

This article traces the life of Faddey Vladislavovich Gregorovich, a prominent professor of the Department of Criminal Law and Procedure at the Imperial Kazan University who has almost faded from the memory of most scholars today. The documents from the State Archives of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Kalvaryja Cemetery in Minsk are analyzed. New documents that give a picture of F.V. Gregorovich’s family circle, which influenced his choice of profession, and solve the dispute on the exact date of his death are introduced and discussed for the first time. These new documents not only fill in some gaps in F.V. Gregorovich’s biography but also reveal how the scholar developed a strong passion for the theory of criminal law throughout his life. The myth about a conflict between F.V. Gregorovich and A.A. Piontkovsky is proven to be groundless. The cause of F.V. Gregorovich’s early retirement is identified: he was diagnosed with a nervous disease, and it led to his negative image in historiography. Since F.V. Gregorovich took part in the V International Prison Congress of 1895, it means that the academic community of the period under study recognized the establishment of prison studies as a special branch of jurisprudence at the Kazan University.

The Cruel Optimism of International Prison Regulation: Prison Ontologies and Carceral Harms

This article examines the development of international human rights standards and oversight mechanisms directed at addressing the negative effects of imprisonment. We identify this as the rules-based prison-regulation project, widely endorsed by international organizations and legal scholars. However, with a focus on the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, we argue that this project has inherent limitations, as it is based on (a) a reductive understanding of carceral harms and (b) a rule-centric ontology of prisons. By challenging these foundations, we explore whether the project exemplifies “cruel optimism” (Berlant, 2011), where the pursuit of improved prison regulation could inadvertently hinder societal flourishing. We argue that the continuous search for new and better prison standards may perpetuate rather than alleviate the problems associated with imprisonment unless accompanied by explicit strategies for countering prison growth and dramatically reducing prisoner numbers, for building the democratic power of prisoners and communities targeted by imprisonment, and continual linkages between prison conditions and the wider political-economic institution of imprisonment. We conclude that engaging with prisons as sites of relational power in practice must underlie any quest to reduce the harms of imprisonment.

Criticism of Texts of Legislative Acts of the Russian Empire in the Political and Legal Work of N. M. Yadrintsev

The publication concerns the problem of analysis of some legislative acts of imperial Russia in the political and legal ideology of the regionalists. An attempt has been made to show the diversity of references in the language of the regional doctrine to legislation and legal terms. It is shown that representatives of the Siberian regionalism movement were very selective in their analysis of the texts of legal acts of the Russian Empire, which was due to their interests for specific problems.
 The authors found that while theoretically analyzing various government decrees on the proportionality of punishment and reduction of exile, such as Decrees of 1811 and 1821, as well as the Charter of 1822 on exiles, the Siberian thinker assessed the system of punishments as unsatisfactory. The attitude to this type of criminal punishment among legal scholars of the second half of the XIX century was ambiguous.
 It is emphasized that the application of progressive views of legal scholars is very often observed in the political and legal ideology of regionalism. For example, N. M. Yadrintsev referred to the provisions of the International Prison Congress of Stockholm.
 The authors comes to the conclusion that the textual analysis of the legislation by the regionalists in regard to the penitentiary policy of the state, including the problem of exile and maintenance of convicts, together with references to the doctrine of law, made it possible to comprehensively approach the solution of certain political and legal problems.

Prison reform in conflict-affected contexts: evidence from Somaliland and Puntland

Prisons are key institutions for strengthening justice and security and are increasingly targets of international interventions. However, prison reform in conflict-affected settings is understudied. To understand the conditions underpinning successes and pitfalls of international prison reform, this study examines the local conditions under which international prison reform interventions take place. Drawing on unique data from interviews with inmates and staff members in Hargeisa Central Prison and Garowe Prison, we analyse United Nations prison reform cases in Somaliland and Puntland, Somalia. We find that the international prison reform in these contexts not only falls short in delivering on some set objectives but also does not engage with the particularities of local conditions and contexts. Furthermore, existing reform programmes embed a conflict of interest: while the beneficiaries of prison reform are concerned with the mental and physical well-being of inmates, the international actors aim to shape prison practices along international standards and incapacitate a subset of serious offenders.

Prison Populations: The International Mystery

At first glance international prison rates, measured by prisoners per 100,000 population, appear to be uncorrelated with national intelligence and with racial diversity, which contradicts both a priori expectations and individual level observations that higher intelligence (IQ) generally reduces criminality, although GDP per capita shows a small positive correlation. We present a solution to this mystery by first breaking prison rates into three components: crime rates (proxied by homicide rates), effectiveness at catching and imprisoning criminals, and sentencing length. We then employ a path analysis to first estimate the effect of national IQ and racial diversity on GDP per capita and income inequality. Finally, we estimate both the direct and indirect association of intelligence and diversity with our prison rate components. Consistent with previous literature we find that national IQ increases GDP per capita and reduces income inequality, whilst racial diversity raises income inequality. GDP per capita in turn is correlated with lower homicide rates, higher effectiveness and longer sentencing length, whilst inequality is not significantly associated with any outcome variable, after controlling for racial diversity. While the association between national IQ and prison rate components appears to be entirely indirect, through the channel of national income, racial diversity is directly associated with higher homicide rates and is weakly positively correlated with sentencing length. This evidence suggests that the opposing effects of raising effectiveness and reducing homicide rates provides an explanation for the lack of correlation between national IQ and prison rates. Keywords: Prisoners, Crime, Homicide, Intelligence, GDP, Racial diversity, Income inequality, Police effectiveness

Singing Towards Freedom: An Exploration of Music Therapy Practices in Norwegian Prison Contexts

This narrative review explores the impacts of music therapy in Norwegian prisons as a powerful model for international mental health efforts for incarcerated populations. Exploring international prisoner mental health trends, Norway’s successful prison model, and challenges to Nordic prison contexts, significant background information explores the complex context around prisoner mental health and why Norway provides the best existent context for studying and implementing music therapy as a novel intervention. Looking at both qualitative and quantitative studies, this paper explores the effects of music therapy in Norwegian prisons. Though music therapy is difficult to study by its long-term nature, recent research speaks to music therapy as a viable treatment option that is effectively implementable in prison contexts and provide much needed help to incarcerated individuals. Many qualitative studies speak to this, focusing on how case studies and experiences with small cohorts create a personal experience for those receiving music therapy. In all of the qualitative studies explored, music therapy helped incarcerated Norwegian patients reach mental health goals in ways that other interventions had not been successful. Quantitative studies feature more ambiguous results, but all suggest successes for music therapy and suggest future experiments that have adequate ability to cover patients over longer timespans in more consistent incarceration contexts. Further exploration of all studies present inspire hope that music therapy can be successfully implemented further in Norwegian and international contexts.

Роль С. П. Яковлева в организации работы воспитательно-исправительных приютов для несовершеннолетних женского пола с девиантным поведением в России

Based on archival materials, the article for the first time examines the historiography of the life path of S. P. Yakovlev, a statesman and public figure, book publisher, writer, journalist, philanthropist. Particular attention is paid to his role in the activities of the correction, upbringing and education of underage beggar girls who have broken the law. S. P. Yakovlev became the organizer, trustee of the first specialized educational and correctional shelter for them in Russia, the developer of the shelter’s charter. He presented and defended advanced psychological and pedagogical ideas regarding work with this category of minors with deviant behavior, the experience of the shelter in numerous publications in magazines, reports on the activities of the Bolshevsky shelter, reports at international prison congresses, congresses of representatives of educational and correctional institutions in Russia. Within the framework of the activities of the Bolshevsky shelter, he raised and resolved questions about the features of the selection, work, and functional duties of the staff of the shelter; about correctional shelters as professional trade and educational institutions, with the necessary amount of school knowledge within the framework of the program of elementary schools; on taking into account the individual characteristics and abilities of pupils when teaching crafts with the provision of employment opportunities for them after leaving the shelter; about the need for patronage as a duty of the shelter, taking into account the knowledge about the individual psychological characteristics of the patronized, the reasons that led to the offenses, about the degree of correction by the time of leaving the shelter.
 Recognition of his merits was the renaming of the Bolshevsky shelter in 1900 to Yakovlevsky.

Lost in translation: The principle of normalisation in prison policy in Norway and the Netherlands

The principle of normalisation has gained more prominence in international prison law, with both the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules (UN SMR) and the European Prison Rules (EPR) promoting normalisation to the guiding principles. In general terms, normalisation refers to shaping life in prison in resemblance to life outside prison. However, it largely remains unclear what this principle entails for prison policy. The general formulation in the UN SMR and EPR leave much discretionary room to national prison authorities. By conducting a (comparative) policy analysis, this article aims to uncover the normative standards derived from the UN SMR and EPR and how the principle translates into national laws and policies of Norway and the Netherlands. The analysis shows that although the main provision is generally formulated, some detailed norms are provided in other provisions on how elements of life in prison should be shaped, including limits and restrictions. In Norway and the Netherlands, normalisation is not explicitly mentioned in law, but is (to a varied extent) incorporated in policy. It is shown that, in practice, normalisation is closely tied to reintegration, which has important implications for the principle itself and the norms that are taken as point of reference.

Training of prison staff in the materials of the Penitentiary Commission of the St. Petersburg Law Society (for the ivth International Prison Congress of 1890)

The article discusses the historical and pedagogical aspects of the activities of the penitentiary Commission of the St. Petersburg Law Society, aimed at ensuring the staffing of prison staff during the period under review, and designed in the form of preparatory work for the ivth International Prison Congress, held in the Russian capital in 1890.The methodological basis of the study was made up of a set of conceptual provisions of pedagogical and historical sciences, as well as general scientific methods of cognition - objectivity, scientific and historicism, a systematic approach, logical analysis and synthesis based on the variability of the historical and pedagogical process. This approach is based on the mutual integration of the subject fields of the three sciences – pedagogy, history and jurisprudence. Scientific novelty is considered by us based on the priority of introducing into scientific circulation previously unexplored factual material of the primary source. The presented work is one of the first attempts to reveal the historical and pedagogical heritage of the St. Petersburg Law Society (its penitentiary Commission) in preparation for the ivth International Prison Congress held in St. Petersburg in 1890, to determine the role of this commission in the theoretical justification of the need to train prison staff in Russia.The appeal to the activities of the penitentiary commission of the St. Petersburg Law Society, which were not previously studied by teachers–researchers in 1890, allows us to actualize the issues of the past, to see from new sides the activities of famous Russian scientists (for example, the chairman of the penitentiary commission - I. Ya. Foynitsky), to help understand the most important initial stage in the theoretical justification of the need for training prison staff in Russia.

Agricultural prisons and colonies in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth Century: on the question of the expediency of creation and the problems of implementation

In a rapidly changing world order, one of the strategic goals facing Russia at the moment is to ensure food security, which is an integral part of national security. In the Russian Federation, enterprises of various forms of ownership are currently involved in agriculture. Among them, a special place is occupied by specialized agricultural enterprises and subsidiary farms under the jurisdiction of the Federal Penitentiary Service, one of the main tasks of which is to ensure food security of the penal system. Unfortunately, the production capacities of these enterprises and their efficiency are currently insufficient, which is explained by a number of objective reasons. Meanwhile, the possibilities of the penitentiary system in the production of agricultural products, the restoration of agricultural land, the restoration of forests are quite large, which is now being talked about more and more often. The idea of using persons serving a prison sentence in the process of agricultural production is not new. At the turn of the XIX – XX centuries, these ideas were actively discussed both at international prison congresses and among Russian penitentiaries. Taking into account the relevance of the topic, this paper examines the main ideas of domestic penitentiaries on the creation of agricultural colonies and prisons in the Russian Empire, the advantages and disadvantages of correctional institutions of a new type in front of the prevailing imprisonment at that time. The conducted research allowed the authors to conclude that the main ideas developed at the beginning of the twentieth century by domestic lawyers on the creation of agricultural colonies and prisons remain relevant for Russia in the XXI century. The results of studies of the early twentieth century on the topic under consideration, after their thorough refinement, can be taken into account by modern lawyers when adjusting the concept of the development of the domestic penal system.

Doctors Playing Gods? The Legal Challenges in Regulating the Experimental Stage of Cybernetic Human Enhancement

The emergence of new technologies might challenge our assumptions about biomedical research: medical progress may not only cure but enhance human capacities. In particular, the emergence of brain-machine interfaces will admittedly allow disabled people to move or communicate again, but also has various military applications, such as remote control of drones and avatars. Although there is no express legal framework pertaining to the experimental phase of human enhancement techniques, they are actually constrained by international law. According to international humanitarian law, civilians and prisoners of war may be subjected to experiments only when required by their state of health or for medical treatment. According to international human rights law, experimentations are permissible when they meet two conditions: (i) free consent, and (ii) proportionality (that is, the adequacy of risk and benefit). In light of these conditions, this article assesses the situations in which experimentation involving brain-computer interfaces would be lawful. It also gives specific attention to those experimentations carried out on members of the armed forces. In fact, owing to the military hierarchy and the unique nature of its mission (to protect national security at the risk of their own lives), it is necessary to determine how the military may comply with this legal framework.

Initiatives of the St. Petersburg International Prison Congress of 1890 in the assessments of the Russian periodical press

Initiatives of the St. Petersburg International Prison Congress of 1890 in the assessments of the Russian periodical press

Some Compassionate Release Cases and Lessons in the Time of COVID-19

This short article describes some of the special challenges of seeking compassionate release for non-U.S. citizen prisoners. Interfacing with the international prisoner transfer program and the Bureau of Customs and Immigration Enforcement are addressed; the value of medical affidavits is also discussed.

The European Court of Human Rights and the protection of prisoners’ health

Abstract The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is a key actor in the regulation of prison conditions at the European level. Before 1998, the ECtHR did little more than legitimate state practice in terms of detention, no matter the effects on the health of those detained. Yet, since 1998, the ECtHR has recognised that prisoners are in a particularly vulnerable situation due to their almost total dependence on the authorities, and has defined a number of positive obligations that States are under to protect the health of prisoners. Several reasons have been suggested for this evolution. Firstly, in 1998, the ECHR system was restructured and the ECtHR became a permanent court. Secondly, the Council of Europe’s enlargement process to the East brought about an explosion in the number of applications from prisoners in post-soviet States complaining about severely inadequate prison conditions and overcrowded conditions. Thirdly, the ECtHR began to work more closely with Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), an interdisciplinary body that looks to make structural changes to prison conditions and focuses on the effects on health to prisoners. In this connection, the ECtHR post-1998 also began to rely more heavily on external standards, such as CPT standards, WHO guidelines, and UN Minimum Standards to supplement its reasoning. This study examines the dynamics between the ECtHR’s normative standards of prison conditions and other international prison health standards by tracking the ECtHR’s use of external materials in its assessment of the acceptability of prison conditions. It does so in the context of the ECtHR’s jurisprudence relating to tuberculosis prevention, treatment and control in prisons. Apart from standard improvement, preliminary results demonstrate an increase in the use of WHO documents corresponding with the evolution in the Court’s thinking, and indicate that such documents are increasingly recognised as minimum legal requirements for governments to meet.

Certain Issues Related to the Implementation of International Standards in Uzbekistan's National Legislation with Regard to Improving C onditions of Detention of Women

The article opens the publications which are relevant to the problems research in the penitentiary system. The main problems in the legislation developing process, disadvantages of the current system are critically described so that to fulfill the international standards of the penal policy. According to the provisions enshrined in international legal standards, the decision on the distribution of convicted prisoners between penal institutions should not create difficulties for convicts and their families. For social rehabilitation, convicts should be detained in penitentiary institutions close to their residence or at a distance as close as possible to him. In this regard, the author notes with satisfaction the efforts of international organizations that contribute to the development of women's rights in Central Asia. For example, at the First Regional Meeting in Astana, the Representation of the International Prison Reform in Central Asia presented a project to improve the access of vulnerable categories of convicts to justice, where the vulnerable categories were noted as including not only people with disabilities, the elderly, the sick, those sentenced to death penalty, but also women. The present penal reforms in Uzbekistan lead to the discussion to recognize and implement those standards as the main policy on legislative level.

Contextualising the pervasive impact of macroeconomic austerity on prison health in England: a qualitative study among international policymakers

BackgroundPrisons offer the state the opportunity to gain access to a population that is at particularly high risk of ill-health. Despite the supportive legal and policy structures surrounding prison rehabilitation, the oppressive nature of the austerity policy in England threatens its advanced improvement.MethodsUsing grounded theory methodology, this is the first interdisciplinary qualitative study to explore the impact of macroeconomic austerity on prison health in England from the perspective of 29 international prison policymakers.ResultsThe far-reaching impact of austerity in England has established a regressive political system that shapes the societal attitude towards social issues, which has exacerbated the existing poor health of the prisoners. Austerity has undermined the notion of social collectivism, imposed a culture of acceptance among prison bureaucrats and the wider community, and normalised the devastating impacts of prison instability. These developments are evidenced by the increasing levels of suicide, violence, radicalisation and prison gangs among prisoners, as well as the imposition of long working hours and the high levels of absenteeism among prison staff.ConclusionsThis study underscores an important and yet unarticulated phenomenon that despite being the fifth largest economy in the world, England’s poorest, marginalised and excluded population continues to bear the brunt of austerity. Reducing the prison population, using international obligations as minimum standards to protect prisoners’ right to health and providing greater resources would create a more positive and inclusive system, in line with England’s international and domestic commitments to the humane treatment of all people.

O tzw. dobrych praktykach penitencjarnych. Obraz empiryczny i kilka ogólniejszych refleksji teoretycznych

The article discusses the issue of good penitentiary practices. It fits into the discussionabout how to work with inmates in prison, what axiological and substantive basis offersan alternative, new logic of interactions against the crisis of penitentiary resocialisation.According to the author, this discussion should be concentrated on the followingquestions: what can be achieved in prison conditions; how to work with prisoners; whatgoals should be present in penitentiary work. One of the ways of working is, therefore,good practice. The author discusses theoretical and methodological aspects of researchon good practices and defines them. He points out that what is usually referred toas a good practice is an action that has brought concrete, positive results, has somepotential for innovation, is durable, repeatable and applicable to similar conditionselsewhere or by other entities.According to the author, the sources of good penitentiary practices can be soughtin various areas of knowledge, experience and legal regulations. Most importantly, heindicates: praxeology and pragmatism, realism (with regard to what can be achievedin a total institution in given organisational, social and economic conditions), wisdomand experience of prison staff (conformism), international prison rules, penitentiarynational law and pedagogical interaction models. All these sources are discussed indetail.In the further part of the article, the results of research on good penitentiarypractices are discussed. They were carried out between January 2015 and September2016 in five largest prisons from the area of the District Inspectorate of the PrisonService in Poznan (prisons in Poznan, Gebarzewo, Krzywaniec, Rawicz andWronki). They were all of a closed type. The study covered a group of 180 convictsand 32 educators. In addition, 100 personal files were analysed for the mannerof penitentiary work described in them.Research shows that employment of convicts was the most desirable activity, es -pecially appreciated by the educators. In their opinion, referral to work organisestime, sets the rhythm and structure of the day. The work environment is also outsideof the cell. The convicts can go out, meet people from outside prison. This is especiallyvaluable in a closed-type penitentiary. Daily performance of professional duties developsa work habit, teaches responsibility, cooperation, understanding and duty.The second type of desirable interventions was organising and facilitating contactswith relatives. The third one was implementation of, and engaging convicts in, variouspenitentiary programmes. The programme offers possibilities for innovation andcan be repeated. It also provides an opportunity to use specialist preparation andinventiveness of its author (prison educator). The author of the article estimates that only the development and use of penitentiary programmes can be considereda good penitentiary practice according to the criteria given in the article. Other typesof influence pointed out by educators and convicts lie simply in the good performanceof duties by the prison staff. Therefore, they do not provide a starting point to proposesome new theoretical concept of penitentiary interactions.Commenting on these findings, the author assesses that the scientific way of defininggood practices is clearly not in line with how they are understood by prison staff.The former is determined by the criteria indicated in the article, the pragmatic realismof the other. It results from the pressure of prison conditions, and it is not enough togeneralise it to the theoretical level.Therefore, in the final part of the article the author poses the question how theobtained results can be used. In response, he states that the actions indicated by therespondents as desirable can be divided into two groups. The first one includes generalpenitent actions (e.g. differentiation of impacts on prisoners into long-term and shorttermones, intensification of interactions aimed at managing the prisoners’ free time,matching interactions according to the sentence execution’s phase), whereas the secondrefers to interactions aimed at intensifying an individual approach to pri soners (e.g. anindividualised plan of serving the sentence, better knowledge of the convicts, payingmore attention to their interests, reacting to their problems).In conclusion, the author of the article states that its findings provide the basis onlyfor formulating a catalogue of methodical, organisational and functional guidelines.He gives examples of such directives as well as the actions indicated as desirable byprison’s educators and inmates.The article ends with the remark that the catalogue of methodical guidelines isa kind of a prison penitentiary code, assuming the use of means and methods that canpotentially be implemented in prison conditions.