Open Prisons Research Articles

Challenges Afflicting Prisons – A First-hand Observation

Prisons encounter numerous challenges stemming from systemic, social, and administrative shortcomings. Overcrowding stands out as a significant problem, with facilities operating well beyond their intended capacities, leading to strained resources, increased tensions, and substandard living conditions. The high volume of pretrial detainees exacerbates overcrowding, prolongs the wait for justice, and creates excessive difficulties for those who are imprisoned. Deficiencies in infrastructure, a lack of initiatives to build new prisons or expand the capacity of current facilities, insufficient medical care - particularly in mental health services - and shortages of staff all jeopardize the well-being and safety of inmates. Additionally, gender-specific issues, such as insufficient facilities for women and the absence of open prisons, underscore the system's failure to support marginalized groups. Furthermore, the scarcity of rehabilitation programs hinders the reintegration of prisoners into society. Malpractices, gang activity, and substance abuse in prisons worsen these conditions, leading to violence and fatalities that hinder reform initiatives. Addressing these interconnected challenges requires extensive reforms that involve robust administrative commitment, investments in infrastructure and workforce, improvements to the legal framework, and the creation of rehabilitation programs aimed at cultivating a more humane and efficient prison system.

Title- A Prison Without Bars, Chains, or Locks

Krishna Iyer, J. in his judgments has always supported humanitarian over punitive treatment of inmates. The Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to life and personal liberty to all people, including prisoners. Previously, prisons were thought to be small rooms where convicted criminals were kept away from luxury and public life to allow them to reflect on their crimes and repent. Since ancient times, prisons have been used both domestically and abroad as punitive and correctional facilities. One of the concepts employed by the criminal justice system to help prisoners become law-abiding citizens is the open prison. This article begins with a brief study of the concept of open prisons and a comparative discussion of open prisons in Finland and India. This research paper tries to bring out the contrast between the Indian and Finnish Open Prisons as Finland is the perfect example to study the implementation of reformative justice in prison administration. The researcher has also critically discussed the conditions of the open prison system in India and tried to suggest measures to enhance the condition just like the Finnish Open Prisons. In the end, the researcher has concluded the paper with some suggestions that can be implemented to enhance the conditions of the open prison system in India.

Violence within women's prisons and its implications on reintegration effectiveness

The involvement of women in various aspects of life, both socially and economically, has exposed the potential for criminal behaviour among women. This situation has led to the phenomenon of women's involvement in criminal acts commonly associated with men, such as robbery, murder, organized crime, and human trafficking. Poor social and economic conditions tend to be triggering factors and solid reasons for women to engage in criminal activities. This background has become the basis for the increasing number of women in prison in Indonesia, opening the possibility of various forms of violence within women's prisons. This presents a significant challenge for the management of women's prisons in optimizing the reintegration system due to the escalation of significant demotivation resulting from the violence experienced by female inmates, both among themselves and with prison staff. This research employs an exploratory qualitative approach, focusing on women involved in criminal cases and sentenced to prison. Primary data from interview results are descriptively analysed, producing a comprehensive, authentic, and representative narrative. The findings of this study indicate that the concept of punishment in Indonesia still emphasizes punitive functions over corrective functions, where both physical and mental violence are considered effective forms of punishment, especially for women. Violence occurring within women's prisons is then negatively responded to and becomes a driving factor for the decreased interest of female inmates in succeeding in the reintegration program. This reluctance then triggers a negative response from the staff in the form of violence against female inmates. A solution to mitigate violence in women's prisons is the placement in open prisons, with the involvement of independent external parties in both the supervision process and the implementation of reintegration programs to achieve an inclusive and constructive effect for all parties involved.

Introduction of Open Prisons and Prison Relaxation Measures in Germany: Some Suggestions for Taiwan

Introduction of Open Prisons and Prison Relaxation Measures in Germany: Some Suggestions for Taiwan

“The COVID-19 pandemic and operational challenges, impacts, and lessons learned: a multi-methods study of U.S. prison systems”

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic changed U.S. prison operations and influenced the daily work of prison staff.MethodsIn collaboration with the National Institute of Corrections, we administered a survey to 31 state correctional agencies in April 2021 and conducted five focus groups with 62 correctional staff.ResultsUsing a framework of bounded rationality, we find that daily operations were strained, particularly in the areas of staffing, implementing public health policy efforts, and sustaining correctional programming. While prison systems and staff were under-prepared to respond to the pandemic, they attempted to address complex problems with the limited resources they had.ConclusionsResults underscore a need in corrections for prioritizing further developments and reviews of collaborative policies and practices for managing crisis situations. Seeking avenues for leveraging technological innovations to improve operations and facilitate enhanced communication are especially warranted. Finally, meaningful reductions in the prison population, changes in physical infrastructure, and expansions of hiring and retention initiatives are critical for positioning prisons to manage future emergencies.

Evaluation of an enhanced behavioural monitoring system in UK open prisons

Behavioural monitoring has efficacy in predicting recidivism. As an intervention however, the proven effectiveness is limited. This study is an evaluation of the Enhanced Behaviour Monitoring scheme operating across open prisons in England and Wales, to reduce instances of failure (e.g. abscond, re-offending). Utilising a matched sample design, logistic regression analyses showed Enhanced Behaviour Monitoring had null effects on serious recidivistic outcomes (e.g. abscond, reoffending). Those allocated to Enhanced Behaviour Monitoring were more likely to get recalled before completing the intervention. In essence, Enhanced Behaviour Monitoring was utilised primarily as a surveillance programme – to defend against risk exposure – resulting in recalls to closed prisons misaligned to the community recidivism risk; undermining the open prison concept. We discuss the findings in the context of the adverse effects of ‘surveillance only’ community supervision programmes. We argue for developing the rehabilitative potential within Enhanced Behaviour Monitoring and mitigating against excessive risk exposure through systems level policy change.

A Comparison of Open and Closed Prison Systems: Can These Systems be Implemented in Australia?

This article examines the Norwegian prison system, which focuses on the rehabilitation of inmates and their reintegration into society, and whether this system can be implemented in Australia. It focuses on the individual experiences of inmates within open and closed Norwegian prison systems and highlights the differences and challenges they face. Open prisons aim to mimic community living by affording inmates greater freedoms. However, open prisons also introduce complexities such as confusion, anxiety, ambiguity, relative deprivation, and individual responsibility. Closed prisons, like the renowned Halden Prison, present different challenges which are similar to those in classic styles of prisons. Inmates within these two systems express mixed views about the rehabilitative effects they perceive the prison to have. The article also explores the social perceptions of punishment and how they influence the implementation of similar prison models in other countries. This analysis aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse on the effectiveness of various prison systems in reducing recidivism and promoting inmate rehabilitation across different societies.

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

Impartiality or Individualization? Imprisoned Women’s Discourses of (In)Justice

Using in-depth interviews with forty women in one California prison, the research addresses incarcerated women’s perceptions of justice regarding their experiences with the criminal justice system, particularly concerning the internal prison grievance system. This article focuses on interview subjects’ perceptions of (in)justice regarding problems relevant to the grievance processes. The most prominent discourses of justice revolved around procedural and substantive justice issues in seemingly contradictory ways. These discourses emerged from three main areas of discussion: everyday prison operations and interactions; the design and operation of grievance procedures; and dehumanizing prison processes and policies and sexual assaults and abuse. The article highlights the seemingly contradictory nature of the justice ideals put forth, discusses the contextual nature of these perceptions and, reflecting on justice and legal theory, offers some conclusions and recommendations, addressing the Prison Litigation Reform Act.

Monitoring prisoners preparing for release: Who ‘fails’ in open prison conditions?

Open prisons play a vital role in offender rehabilitation and resettlement but absconds, temporary release failures (TRFs) and re-offences have damaging implications for the legitimacy of these institutions. Identifying and mitigating the risk for such ‘failures’ is crucial. The present study examined predictors of failure in a sample of 316 adult male prisoners in two open prisons in England and Wales. Almost one-third ( n = 100) of the sample failed in open conditions, the greatest proportion ( n = 83 , 26.3%) instigated by the prison to maintain security and good order (security recall). Yet, only seven re-offended in the year following custodial release . Absconds, custodial re-offences, and TRFs were rare events. Regression analysis identified five factors predicting security recall. Current behaviour, rather than static/historical risk factors, more reliably predicted such failures. Behavioural monitoring and systemic policy re-evaluation are proposed as way of mitigating failures in open prisons.

일제의 식민지 통치를 위한 사법적 통제에 관한 연구

The mechanism of judicial control used as a means of colonial rule by the Japanese Empire, which was confirmed through this paper, is as follows.
 First, the revival of flogging and the immediate resolution of crimes in the early days of colonialism were typical means of punishment in which the threatening colonial rule of the time was reflected in the realm of the judicial control model. Under the pretext of introducing a modern judicial system under the guise of introducing a modern judicial system, Japanese colonial rule was revived as a traditional means of punishment, active use of it, introduction and operation of modern prisons, and active enforcement and expansion of death sentences and executions. It was used as a means of colonial rule to detain and oppress the people who resisted.
 Second, the detention system using colonial modern prisons is characterized by the birth of a group of ‘criminals’ due to the introduction of modern punishment in colonial Joseon in the 1910s, and the active use of pre-modernity in controlling them. This well shows the introduction of the barbaric and formal modernization process that Korea had to undergo as a colony. After opening as Gyeongseong Prison on October 21, 1908, it was used to arrest and detain numerous patriots who resisted Japanese imperialism.
 Third, it is a well-known fact that a significant number of anti-Japanese activists as well as the people of Joseon were executed during the Japanese colonial era. In particular, the death penalty for anti-Japanese independence activists, that is, ideological criminals (political criminals), is sufficient to raise suspicions that the judicial punishment of the Japanese Empire was excessively abused. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the death penalty was used as a means of oppressive rule by the Japanese colonial rule.

Risk management in open prisons: A critical analysis and research agenda

Open prisons offer a unique contribution to the community resettlement of those serving custodial sentences. However, the evidence base for the efficacy of open prisons is limited and their existence is frequently scrutinised following adverse events including prisoner absconding and re-offending. This paper critically evaluates open prisons’ efficacy and the effective management of risk in this environment. We present a research agenda which aims to delineate the potential mechanisms of open prisons that rehabilitate offenders, while maintaining the safety of these environments. We emphasise the importance of an improved understanding of risk manifestation, and the need to evaluate existing risk management protocols.

A Qualitative Study of the Implementation and Continued Delivery of Complete and Partial Smoke-Free Policies Across England's Prison Estate.

In the United Kingdom, smoking among prisoners is up to five times more prevalent than the national average. Between 2015 and 2018, HMPPS introduced a complete smoke-free policy in all closed prisons, and a partial policy permitting smoking only in smoking shelters in open prisons. This study aimed to explore the views of stakeholders regarding the implementation and continuation of smoke-free policies, including the management of nicotine addiction during imprisonment and after release. Individuals with key strategic and/or operational roles in delivering smoke-free prison policies across England were purposively sampled to complete a semi-structured interview. Twenty-eight interviews were analyzed thematically. The smoke-free implementation across the closed prison estate was viewed as a success, though there were reports of reduced availability of smoking cessation support since the roll out. Participants thought the majority of tobacco smokers living in closed prison environments were now using an electronic cigarette, typically as a temporary means to manage nicotine addiction until release. In open prisons the partial policy has been less successful; high rates of smoking resumption on moving from closed to open conditions were reported, with many participants arguing that the open estate should also go completely smoke free. It was envisaged that most prisoners would resume smoking on community release. The smoke-free policies provide a unique opportunity to promote lifelong cessation in this highly disadvantaged group. However more could be done to adopt a consistent smoke-free policy across all prisons, and to support prisoners in quitting smoking and nicotine use during and after imprisonment. Our results identify the urgent need for more work to explore rates and reasons for relapse to smoking on transfer to the open estate and after release. With the majority of smokers in the closed prison estate now using e-cigarettes to manage their nicotine addiction, one way to support long-term tobacco abstinence could be to place greater emphasis on this switching behavior as a way of reducing tobacco-related harm within this population.

The shallow end: Understanding the prisoner experience in Iceland's open prisons

Prisoners often talk about their prison experience using spatial metaphors such as weight and depth. Imprisonment is frequently described as ‘deep’, with prisoners reporting feeling ‘submerged’ or ‘buried alive’. But what about its opposite? Can we consider a prison experience that not only lacks these experiential qualities but could in fact be felt and described as ‘shallow’? What characteristics would such a shallow prison experience have? In order to investigate this I spent time in Iceland's two open prisons. Both are very small with about 20 prisoners, run with few staff, set in rural, scenic settings and lack most of the features typically associated with imprisonment. In these prisons, I found that in essence, shallowness is both sensorily and interactively experienced. These shallow prisons allow for a range of sensory experiences of which prisoners are typically deprived, and for interactivity in the sense of the outside world permeating the prison in a range of ways. I, therefore, conclude that shallowness comes with its own positive characteristics so that it is more than the absence of depth. In addition, such arrangements are likely to reduce the pains associated with imprisonment considerably.

The Closed and the Open Prison: Contested Imaginaries and the Limits of Openness

This article explores the conceptual landscape of open prisons in India. Open prisons are institutions intended to facilitate prisoner rehabilitation by permitting them to live in small dwellings with their families and earn livelihoods outside their boundary walls. The article delves on the tensions between how “openness” is conceived in prison reform documents and the multiple ways in which it is imagined and materialized through everyday practices. It focusses on a specific open prison in north India which is considered exceptional even as far as open prisons are concerned both for its scale and forms of community. It draws attention to its histories and the modes of governance that incrementally shape its socio spatial landscape. This is followed by an interrogation of the elevated status this specific prison enjoys in penal discourse as an idealised community of reformed prisoners while underscoring the open prison’s overall potential as a shifting institutional form. By drawing on ethnographic research conducted with activists, open prison advocates, formerly incarcerated persons and open prison residents, this article makes contributions to the study of governance, political and legal institutions and the carceral state.

Using COVID-19 to Address Environmental Threats to Health and Leverage for Prison Reform in South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe

Abstract Health rights of prisoners has long been a neglected political issue in Africa, where over one million people are detained, and almost half of whom are in pre-trial detention. African prisons constitute high-risk environments for communicable disease transmission. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the public health literature on African prison responses focused on preparedness as it related to testing capacity, quarantine practices and personal protective measures to mitigate disease spread. This article combines the right to health as narrowly defined by a prisoner’s right to access non-discriminatory equivalent health care, with a broader focus on assessing normative standards of detention. A comparative legal realist assessment of prison operations in South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe during COVID-19 state disaster measures is presented, focusing on the environmental determinants of health (ventilation, minimum floor space, water, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition) in prisons. It reveals the inherent tensions in ensuring a balance between respecting the fundamental rights of people living and working in prisons, ensuring adequate environmental health standards and mitigating disease during public health emergencies. Despite insufficient government resourcing and inadequate coverage of COVID-19 responses, few severe outbreaks were reported. This could be due to lack of testing, reporting or other factors (asymptomatic infection, acquired immunity). Prison congestion and unrest however affected prisoners and staff fearful of hazardous living and occupational health conditions. COVID-19 as public health emergency amplifies the need to address systemic deficits in infrastructure, resourcing and efficiency of criminal justice systems. Policy level and pragmatic recommendations for enhanced human rights practice are outlined.

The Floating Signifier of 'Safety': Correctional Officer Perspectives on COVID-19 Restrictions, Legitimacy and Prison Order.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect prisons internationally. Existing research focuses on infection data, meaning we do not fully understand how COVID-19 shapes frontline prison dynamics. We draw on qualitative interviews with 21 Canadian federal correctional officers, exploring how the pandemic impacted prison management. Officers suggested inconsistent messaging around COVID-19 protocols reduced institutional and officers' self-legitimacy, fracturing trust relationships with incarcerated people. Furthermore, officers suggest that personal protective equipment such as gowns and face shields took on multiple meanings. We use Lévi-Strauss' floating signifier concept to analyse how individual definitions of 'safety' informed day-to-day prison routines. We conclude by arguing that legitimacy deficits and contested definitions of 'safety' will continue to create uncertainty, impacting prison operations going forward.

Imprisonment

Criminal law theorists have for the most part neglected the question of why imprisonment requires special legal safeguards for those targeted. The few scholars who have addressed this question have focused on how prison facilities restrict freedom of movement, control over one’s daily life, and access to particular human functioning, but they have ignored state measures that do not include confining individuals behind bars. I defend an alternative account: I argue that the use of prison facilities is part of a raft of state measures, which includes measures that have a relatively minor impact on individuals and others that are more severe. What matters, in deciding what legal safeguards individuals should have against what kinds of state imposition, is how severely a measure impacts on the normal life of those subjected to it. This impact-based approach enables us to decouple the concept of imprisonment from walls, locks, and political and social barriers, thereby highlighting atypical forms of imprisonment, such as open prisons, as well as potential forms of imprisonment to be employed outside of prison, including house arrest. For instance, a person confined to a prison facility can, to a certain extent, be free to take part in society, or a person subject to other state measures can reside at home but be constrained from carrying out a major part of her activities. The account I defend enables us to identify imprisoned individuals as well as those subjected to measures similar to imprisonment, which has potential consequences for their legal rights.

Model of Surveillance Prevention and Control Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19) in Samutprakan Central Prison

This research has a general objective 1) To study the situation and operations of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID -19) outbreak abroad and domestically. And specific objectives 2) To study surveillance patterns, Prevent and control the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID -19) In Samut Prakan Provincial Central Prison 3) To make policy recommendations for the development of surveillance models and guidelines, Prevent and control the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID -19) In Samut Prakan Central Prison. It's qualitative research. The tools used in the research are documentary research data collection, in-depth interviews from 11 key contributors. Using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions of 8 people. The results showed that 1) Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic Situation It affects inmates in prisons both in Thailand and abroad. Prisons abroad have imposed measures to reduce overcrowding of inmates by temporarily releasing vulnerable inmates such as the elderly, Persons with underlying medical conditions and pregnant women and inmates who are on trial at court, Inmates are vaccinated, and preventive measures are taken by staff to reduce transmission. Meanwhile, prison operations in Thailand have been implemented in accordance with coronavirus surveillance measures. 2019 Strictly with new inmate care (upstream) Former inmates (midstream) and inmates released (downstream) 2) Surveillance model, Prevent and control the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Samut Prakan Central Prison in accordance with the management guidelines "4 M". Starting from the management side, focusing on participatory management, especially with the host hospital, Bang Bo Hospital with good relationships for a long time. Determine the indicators, directs clear operations from inner prisons to other prisons, Adopt bubble & seal principles during the pandemic. Emphasis is placed on vaccine coverage among all staff and inmates. The budget is supported by several of the most important sources of budget: public donations. Personnel: Healthcare workers of prisons and host hospitals, such as: Bang Bo Hospital is very cooperative and helpful. Prison volunteers helped operate. Equipment, Material Side: Aid supplies are managed jointly through the support of host hospitals and between prisons. And 3) important policy recommendations should be managed by continuing to expand the management policy. The management should apply Buddhist management principles to the implementation of disease control surveillance. Manage resources, especially budgets from local government organizations, support increased operations, and develop the necessary medical supplies database model to be ready for use in emergencies.

All-foreign prisons in the United States, England and Wales, and Norway: Related logics and local expressions

Norway, England and Wales, and the USA are among a small number of affluent Western countries to establish ‘all-foreign’ prisons in response to public concerns about the growing threat of foreign-national prisoners. Drawing on collaborative analysis of empirical data collected at all-foreign prisons in these three countries, this article traces the conditions in which all-foreign prisons emerged, the position and function of all-foreign prisons in specific national systems of criminal justice and immigration control, and the operation of all-foreign prisons within each context. The article points to a shared logic, while drawing attention to the local expressions of bordered penality.