Prison Department Research Articles

Cognitive mapping expert views for policy analysis in the public sector

This paper reports the use, in the UK Home Office Prison Department, of cognitive mapping techniques for policy analysis. The methodology used has been developed to facilitate more effective management of messy problems by management teams. Here it is used for the collation, comparison and analysis of the views of many experts in relation to a major policy issue. The analysis makes use of the specially designed computer software, Decision Explorer. The paper discusses the impact of the approach and suggests general implications for the way in which policy analysis is conducted.

A comparison between on-site immunoassay drug-testing devices and laboratory results

The aim with this study was to evaluate the accuracy of several on-site testing devices on the market. A part of this study is included in the European Union’s (EU’s) roadside testing assessment project (ROSITA). An other request for this kind of study came from the Finnish prison department in the Ministry of Justice. The evaluation was performed on both urine assays and oral fluid assays. The on-site test results were compared with laboratory results (gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS)). The samples were tested on amphetamines (AMP), cannabinoids (THC), opiates (OPI) and cocaine metabolites (COC). Some of the tests also included a metamphetamine (MET) and a benzodiazepine (BZO) test. Both positive and negative samples were tested. A total of 800 persons and eight on-site devices for urine and two for oral fluid testing were included in this study. Good results were obtained for the urine on-site devices, with accuracies of 93–99% for amphetamines, 97–99% for cannabinoids, 94–98% for opiates and 90–98% for benzodiazepines. However, differences in the ease of performance and interpretation of test result were observed. It was possible to detect amphetamines and opiates in oral fluid by the used on-site devices, but the benzodiazepines and cannabinoids did not fulfil the needs of sensitivity.

Relapse prevention with sex offenders: practice, theory and research.

INTRODUCTION: Relapse prevention (RP) is now applied to sex offending. It has been questioned as to whether RP is worthwhile. This paper aims to evaluate this technique. THE ROCHESTER RP PROGRAMME: The purpose of the Rochester RP programme is to refine and strengthen skills gained in the prison department's sex offender treatment programme. The objective of the programme is to teach prisoners to recognize the chain of events leading up to their current offences and to practise strategies to interrupt this chain. THEORETICAL BASIS FOR RP: Stopping an undesired behaviour and maintaining abstinence are two different problems. RP aims to address the maintenance problems. At the centre of RP theory is a study of the conditions that can turn lapse into relapse. Yet RP has been criticized as a lot of jargon saying very little. Ward and Hudson criticize RP constructs and their interaction. Such debates have few implications for clinical work and most of the criticism flies in the face of clinical experience. RESEARCH BASIS FOR RP: Risk factors for sex offenders are being identified. Local evaluation of the Rochester programme suggests that prisoners do learn to identify risk factors and to develop coping strategies. As yet, however, there is no evidence as to whether RP works or not. DISCUSSION: A way to improve the efficacy of an RP programme may be to augment it with additional modules, e.g. behaviour therapy, drug treatment, continued work with the same prison staff and relaxation training. CONCLUSION: RP theory is sound in essence but suffers from an overlay of cumbersome vocabulary. Reliable research is emerging.

Contraceptive use by couples when one partner is infected with HIV

Objectives For HIV-positive people who are sexually active, correct and consistent use of condoms is the most effective way to prevent transmission of HIV infection to HIV-negative partners. [1,2] For most of those who are sexually active with opposite sex partners, pregnancy prevention is also a relevant goal. The best way to protect simultaneously against pregnancy and STD/HIV infection is the concurrent use of an effective barrier method such as condoms with an effective pregnancy prevention method. However, many people choose one or the other, so that use of an effective pregnancy prevention method may discourage use of a barrier method, and vice versa. [3,4] Use of contraceptive methods in HIV-infected populations has been little studied. Interviews with 1,232 sexually active HIV-infected women ages 18-50 showed that 47% had used condoms as a form of contraception in the last 12 months, with lower use among women who had tubal ligations or used oral contraceptives.[5] The objectives of this study were (1) to ascertain the prevalence of use of specific contraceptive methods among heterosexual couples in the U.S. when at least one partner is infected with HIV, and (2) to identify demographic and attitudinal factors predicting condom use in this population. Methods Data are from the Risk and Prevention (R&P) Study of the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS) cohort, a probability sample of HIV-positive adults who had at least one visit for health care at a facility other than a military, prison, or emergency department facility during a 2-month period in early 1996 in the 48 contiguous states of the U.S. The R&P Study, conducted in the fall of 1998, included a stratified random sample of 1,794 of the 2,267 individuals who completed a second HCSUS follow-up interview (August 1997-January 1998), excluding non-English speakers and those of unknown gender. Interviews were obtained with 1,421 individuals, for a response rate of 84%. Analysis of contraceptive use focused on R&P participants for whom pregnancy prevention was a potential concern: 292 women aged 20 to 50 years and 177 men aged 20 years or more who had sex with one or more opposite sex partners in the last 6 months. Results were weighted to adjust for differential probabilities of selection and for attrition. All respondents who were heterosexually active in the last six months were asked a series of questions: 'In the last 6 months, have you or a partner used (method)?' For each method used, follow-up questions asked whether the method was used to prevent pregnancy, was used for other reasons, and was used concurrently with condoms. Results The population was heavily minority (53% African American, 17% Hispanic, 29% white), and 26% of women and 51% of men had been infected through injection drug use. Over 80% were either married or in a heterosexual relationship. Many had advanced HIV disease (49% of women and 61% of men had a lowest-ever CD4 cell count <200 cells/mm3). Eighty one percent of women and 89% of men reported using at least one contraceptive method in the last 6 months. Seventy-eight percent of women and 87% of men used condoms, including 35% of women and 47% of men to prevent pregnancy. Thirty-five percent of women reported having a tubal ligation, and 15% of men reported that a partner had had one. Eleven percent of women reported using oral contraceptives, and 5% of men had a partner who used them. Other effective methods of pregnancy prevention received little use. Three percent of women and 6% of men reported use of microbicides. Among women, demographic characteristics positively associated with condom use included being Hispanic, having some college education, being partnered but not married, and having a spouse or partner who was HIV-negative. Attitudes predicting condom use for women included perceived norms supporting condom use, perceived efficacy of condoms, perceived responsibility to limit HIV transmission, and low optimism about HIV treatment. Among men, having some college education was associated with condom use, but other demographic characteristics and attitudes were not significantly related. Conclusions Use of condoms in this population is highly prevalent, and is nearly universal among those using any contraceptive method. Among those not using condoms, HIV transmission risk depends on the HIV status of partners. Except for tubal ligation, the most effective methods of pregnancy prevention (e.g., oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices) are not widely used, even by those who do not desire children. Thus, counseling and other interventions to help HIV+ people prevent both HIV transmission and pregnancy may be of value.

The care of HIV-infected adults in the United States. HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study Consortium.

In order to elucidate the medical care of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the United States, we randomly sampled HIV-infected adults receiving medical care in the contiguous United States at a facility other than military, prison, or emergency department facility during the first two months of 1996. We interviewed 76 percent of 4042 patients selected from among the patients receiving care from 145 providers in 28 metropolitan areas and 51 providers in 25 rural areas. During the first two months of 1996, an estimated 231,400 HIV-infected adults (95 percent confidence interval, 162,800 to 300,000) received care. Fifty-nine percent had the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome according to the case definition of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 91 percent had CD4+ cell counts of less than 500 per cubic millimeter. Eleven percent were 50 years of age or older, 23 percent were women, 33 percent were black, and 49 percent were men who had had sex with men. Forty-six percent had incomes of less than $10,000 per year, 68 percent had public health insurance or no insurance, and 30 percent received care at teaching institutions. The estimated annual direct expenditures for the care of the patients seen during the first two months of 1996 were $5.1 billion; the expenditures for the estimated 335,000 HIV-infected adults seen at least as often as every six months were $6.7 billion, which is about $20,000 per patient per year. In this national survey we found that most HIV-infected adults who were receiving medical care had advanced disease. The patient population was disproportionately male, black, and poor. Many Americans with diagnosed or undiagnosed HIV infection are not receiving medical care at least as often as every six months. The total cost of medical care for HIV-infected Americans accounts for less than 1 percent of all direct personal health expenditures in the United States.

National Vocations Qualifications (NVQs) in Prisons: A Reflection of Effort and Achievement or the Perpetuation of Existing Patterns of Discrimination?

The purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which gender or racial stereotypes are used to categorise or stigmatise inmates in the allocation of work, training and education in prisons. In setting out the impact of recent legislative reforms, the article begins by outlining the effects of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and the changes resulting from the introduction of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) to the prison regime. The requirement, for the purposes of Sentence Planning, of documentary evidence of an inmate's education and training profile will be seen to have far reaching effects at all stages through a prisoner's sentence; and beyond, for the many prisoners who will be subject to a period of compulsory supervision after release. Yet, it will also be shown that the system operates to allow highly discriminatory decisions to be taken without proper accountability. The effectiveness and implementation of the Prison Department's equal opportunities policy will be considered. The article will conclude by recommending further research that specifically focuses on the allocation of opportunities for education and training for prisoners.

Guidelines for penile plethysmography (PPG) usage

I should like to draw to the attention of psychiatric colleagues the guidelines for the use of PPG assessments. These were produced by a working group of forensic psychologists drawn from the special hospitals, NHS regional and district forensic services, the Prison Department and youth treatment centres.

ALCOHOL USE AND OFFENCE TYPE IN YOUNG OFFENDERS

This paper presents the results of a survey of alcohol use by 604young male convicted offenders. From the internal consistency of the data, and from verification from another sample, it was concluded that trainees in Young Offender Institutions were reporting on their drinking behaviour with a fair degree of accuracy. A significant association was found between drinking at the time of the current offence and offences of a violent nature. A significant association was also found between violent current offences and the consumption of excessive amounts of spirits. Drunkenness was found to be related to large and excessive consumption of beer, cider, or lager. Habitual drunkenness was associated with self-reports of all types of delinquency. Previous work by the Young Offender Psychology Unit (YOPU) of the Home Office Prison Department (Thornton et al. 1990) has shown that Young Offender Institution inmates with violent current offences are more likely to claim to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the offence than are inmates with acquisitive current offences. The research reported here is a continuation of the earlier work in that it attempts to explore this link further. Sample The sample consisted of604 young (17-21-year-old) convicted male offenders. A team of psychologists visited all Young Offender Institutions in England (excluding juvenile and short-term establishments) over a period of a year beginning in 1988, and interviewed twenty-four randomly selected trainees in each. These trainees, having been sentenced to detention in a custodial institution for a period of at least four months, are representative not of young offenders in general, but of those who have committed the more serious offences or who have previous convictions. In one section of the interview, trainees were asked a number of questions about consumption of alcohol at the time of the current offence, and also about their normal drinking habits. In another section they were asked how many times they had committed various types of crime. Data were also collected on each trainee's current offence and any previous convictions.

Institutional racial discrimination, strategic planning and training in the Prison Department

Abstract This article reviews efforts by the Prison Service to counteract racial discrimination within the Service, focussing in particular on the programme to train the race relations teams of individual penal establishments. It is argued that trained teams score over untrained teams on a number of fronts, exhibiting greater perserverance in their efforts and a higher rate of action plan implementation. The article concludes with five suggested measures of success in ensuring equitable treatment of all ethnic groups within the prison system.

Black People and Criminal Justice in the U.K.

Abstract: Until recently relatively little research had been carried out on criminal justice and black people in the U.K., but this is now changing. The indications of work to date are that black people's experience of criminal justice in the U.K. is very different from that of white people. One consequence of this is that the number of black people in Prison Department establishments is disproportionately greater than their representation in the population as a whole. However, the process by which this comes about is a complex one, reflecting not only the way that black people are dealt with by different criminal justice agencies, but also their position in society at large. The available evidence shows that, while some differential sentencing cannot be ruled out as an explanation for the disproportional representation of black people in the prison population, what seems to be more important is what happens prior to sentence, in that black people are differentially apprehended, charged and brought to court in the first instance. In view of this it is not surprising that relations between black people and the police are often troubled. This article highlights the interdependence of the criminal justice process and the way that decisions taken at one stage of the process can affect subsequent decisions, and thus be responsible for black people perceiving the whole system as discriminatory.

Prison Perimeter Cost-Effectiveness

This paper describes a study which was carried out for Home Office Prison Department. The problem under review was that of providing cost-effective Perimeter Security for Prisons. This involved identifying performance measures for prison perimeters. First performance and cost measures had to be found for individual elements of a perimeter (for example, walls, cameras). Next, a mathematical formulation was developed to assess the cost-effectiveness of perimeter cross-sections as a whole. The mathematical model has formed the basis of a computer model. This paper describes the development and use of the computer model and outlines areas of development for the future.

Probation Working in Prison

The Probation Service and the Prison Department have both committed themselves to 'shared working' for the welfare and resettlement of prisoners. The authors set out a role for Probation in the enterprise and argue for a probation presence in prisons to ensure an effective response to the needs of prisoners. Objectives

Prison Officers' Work Attitudes: The Influence of Background and Work Experience

A number of work related attitudes were obtained from a sample of prison officers employed by the Western Australian Prisons Department. Prison officers were first cluster analysed to determine if there were any distinct groups with different attitudes. It was found that there were six such groups. A number of background and work experience variables were then examined to determine if there were any significant intergroup differences. It was found that only previous Prisons Department experience differed over the six groups and that other variables, such as age and previous work history, which others had suggested may explain prison officers' attitudes did not differ significantly. In two previous papers data collected from prison officers in the Western Australian Prisons Department were analysed (Williams, 1983; Williams and Soutar, 1983). The papers examined first the relationships between a number of work related attitudes and second differences in the attitudes of officers in different institutions. However, these analyses did not examine possible relationships between officers' personal, social and work background and these work related attitudes. This appears to be a desirable extension of the previous analysis because Emery (1970), in his study of Bristol Prison, suggested that officers' social backgrounds may be important, while Morris and Morris (1960) argued that previous work experience may also be important in that they considered officers with a military background to be more authoritarian than other officers. Consequently, the prison officers' data were re-examined to determine whether or not such effects were apparent in the Western Australian prison system.

Recent Book: Report of Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales 1981, Report on the Work of the Prison Department 1981

Recent Book: Report of Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales 1981, Report on the Work of the Prison Department 1981

Report on the Work of The Prison Department 1980. Home Office Cmnd. 8228. HMSO. £6.50.

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Report on the Work of The Prison Department 1980: Home Office Cmnd. 8228. HMSO. 6.50

Report on the Work of The Prison Department 1980: Home Office Cmnd. 8228. HMSO. 6.50

REMANDS IN CUSTODY FOR PSYCHIATRIC REPORTS IN HONG KONG

Journal Article REMANDS IN CUSTODY FOR PSYCHIATRIC REPORTS IN HONG KONG Get access BERNARD W. K. LAU BERNARD W. K. LAU M.B., B.S. (H.K.); M.R.C.Psych. (U.K.); D.P.M. (Eng.); A.C.I.S.; F.B.I.M.; M.Inst. A.M. Forensic psychiatrist-in-charge, Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, Prisons Department, Hong Kong Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Criminology, Volume 21, Issue 4, October 1981, Pages 335–341, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a047251 Published: 01 October 1981

Report On The Work of the Prison Department 1979. Home Office, Cmnd. 7965. Hmso. £4.00

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The medical recommendation for psychiatric remands into prison--the Hong Kong scene.

A review is presented of all the remand cases who were referred from the courts to the psychiatric staff of the Psychiatric Observation Unit in the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, Prisons Department, Hong Kong Government. Altogether 607 defendants were assessed during the 24-month period and reports were furnished which indicated the psychiatric diagnosis, medical recommendation and fitness to plead of each case. It is noted that over half of the remands were not mentally disordered and a psychiatric diagnosis was possible in less than half of the sample. Most of the cases belonged to the younger age group, namely 19–39, which is compatible with the finding of schizophrenia in the majority of the mentally ill remands. A considerable number of them had a history of previous psychiatric contact. The nature of the offences varied and they involved those against the person, the property and the public order. In comparison, the schizophrenics committing offences against the person of a non-sexual nature formed the largest sub-group. On the whole, the schizophrenics were most frequently remanded for psychiatric examination, most likely to be recommended for a medical disposal and almost certainly allowed to benefit from the treatment proposed. Factors associated with positive or negative as well as accepted or rejected recommendation were discussed. Special consideration was given to some of the problems concerning the treatment orders which are peculiar to Hong Kong.

Report on the Work of the Prison Department 1978

Report on the Work of the Prison Department 1978