Prison Population Research Articles

Progressive penality as performance

AbstractScotland's prison population remains stubbornly high despite reforms to sentencing and community penalties (most recently in 2016). Seeking to advance the debate on punishment in Scotland, we use empirical data to support a novel theoretical synthesis of the ‘agonistic framework’ and ‘performative regulation’. We argue that these reforms appear oriented towards decarceration, without substantively engaging with the drivers of imprisonment, and hence exemplify the ‘performative’ nature of much Scottish penal policy. The ‘performance’ is shaped by countervailing political constraints on the Scottish Nationalist government, amid continued debate over independence – but truly progressive penal policy requires radical and substantive responses to the problems that punishment seeks to address.

Desconexión Moral y Delincuencia en Población Penitenciaria Adulta: una Revisión Metaanalítica

Research on moral disengagement associated with adult criminal profiles is recent a recent issue and, therefore, has been less evaluated. This meta-analytic study aims to determine the strength of the relationship between moral disengagement and crime in the adult prison population. The results showed a moderate relationship between moral disengagement and crime, with an effect size of r = .26 (p .001). The analysis of moderating variables (i.e., type of offence, gender, age, and instrument measuring moral disengagement) do not show statistically significant results in this association. Finally, it is concluded that moral disengagement is a risk factor for criminal behaviour commission, and future lines of research are proposed.

‘Time's relentless melt’: The severity of life imprisonment through the prism of old age

This paper considers the pains of life-sentence imprisonment through the novel vantage point of old age understood as a process. Our prison populations are getting older and the use of life sentences is dramatically increasing. Yet, research, campaigning, law and policy have not addressed the long-term consequences of imposing life sentences on prisoners who will age. Whilst far from exhaustive, our study draws on studies in gerontology, health policy and penology. We rely on shared analysis of collected official data from the US and the UK to highlight how the expansion and growth of life sentences on the one hand, and the dramatic aging of the prison population, on the other, are intertwined and need to be considered together. This article emphasizes the urgency of taking a holistic approach to penal severity, one that includes analyses of scale, lived experiences, as well as of law and politics, to uncover the multiple forms of marginalization elderly prisoners are exposed to. Aging is a phenomenon we will all experience, yet, in the context of imprisonment, we argue that old age is a ‘prison problem’ rather than a ‘prisoner problem,’, urging research and policy to depart from the conventional and reductive view of the older prisoner as one in need of transformation and treatment or as being inherently criminal.

“It was really poor prior to the pandemic. It got really bad after”: A qualitative study of the impact of COVID-19 on prison healthcare in England

BackgroundThe impact of COVID-19 has been exceptional, particularly on the National Health Service which has juggled COVID affected patients alongside related staff shortages and the existing (and growing) health needs of the population. In prisons too, healthcare teams have been balancing patient needs against staffing shortfalls, but with additional strains unique to the prison population. Such strains include drastic lockdown regimes and prolonged isolation, the need to consider health alongside security, known health inequalities within prisoner groups, and an ageing and ethnically diverse population (both groups disproportionately affected by COVID). The aim of this paper is to contribute to emerging research on the impact of COVID-19 on prison healthcare.MethodsWe conducted 44 in depth interviews (over phone or video) across three groups: prison leavers, healthcare staff and decision makers, between July and December 2021. Framework analysis was undertaken.ResultsThree themes were found. First, we found that Covid-19 had a significant impact on prison healthcare which involved reduced access and changes to how healthcare was delivered. This affected the health of prisoners by exacerbating existing conditions, new conditions being undiagnosed and mental health needs increasing. Second, the pandemic impacted on healthcare staff through creation of stress, frustration and exhaustion due to minimal staffing levels in an already under-resourced system. Third, an emerging conflict was witnessed. People in prison felt neglected regarding their healthcare needs but staff reported doing the best they could in an unprecedented situation. Healthcare staff and decision makers felt that prison healthcare was seen as a poor relation when compared with healthcare in the community, with no extra resource or staffing for Covid-19 testing or vaccinations.ConclusionThe Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted almost all aspects of prison healthcare in the UK. This includes delivery of healthcare by staff, receipt of it by people in prison and the management, planning and commissioning of it by decision makers. These three groups of people were all affected detrimentally but in vastly different ways, with some participants describing a sense of trauma. Health needs that were exacerbated or went unmet during Covid urgently need to be addressed in order to reduce health inequalities. In order for welfare and wellbeing to be maintained, and in some cases repaired, both prisoners and staff need to feel heard and recognised.

Foreign Body Ingestion in an Adult not Associated with Mental Disorder: An Unusual Clinical Case Report

Introduction and objective: Esophagus is a muscular and mucosal tubular organ with 4 physiological narrowing’s that are preferred sites for the retention of foreign bodies accidentally or deliberately ingested. The latter form is frequent in people with mental disorders and prisoners. The aim of this study is to describe a rare clinical case of foreign body ingestion.Case Report: This case describes an incident in which a young man deliberately swallowed a key to hide evidence of theft. This is a unique case in the literature of deliberate ingestion in mentally healthy people and not part of the prison population. Discussion: Foreign bodies are a public health problem, related with huge ENT doctor's activities. It represents the first cause of ENT emergency services care. Although large foreign body ingestion is rare. The worldwide literature is full of articles related with little accidental foreign bodies ingestion, especially in children, such as coins, toys, fish bones and bones Conclusions: In the presence of intentionally and/or accidental foreign bodies ingested in adults, it is necessary to discard mental disorders or social factors.

Women Behind Bars: A Scoping Review of Mental Health Needs in Prison.

Women prisoners are a population that is vulnerable to mental health problems. Women prisoners have a higher risk of mental health problems than women in the general population. So far, there have been very few studies with specific on women prisoner populations discussing mental health needs in prisons. The high prevalence of mental health problems in women prisoners is inseparable from meeting the mental health needs of women prisoners in prison. This review aimed to identify the mental health needs of women prisoners. A scoping review was used, a systematic search of the articles on Oxford Academic Journals, Emerald Insight, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar using the keywords "Mental Health" OR "Health" AND "Needs" OR "Needs Assessment" OR "Addressing Needs" AND "Female" OR "Woman" OR "Women" AND "Inmates" OR "Prisoners" OR "Offenders" OR "Convicts". A total of 10 out of 254 selected, were considered eligible for inclusion and the results showed that the six major themes of mental health needs of women prisoners were treatment of substance, drug, and alcohol abuse, support system, empathy, training, mental illness treatment and access to health services, and health intervention: therapy and counselling. It is recommended for further research to focus more on the problem of access to gender-based mental health services in prisons.

The Door Is Still Open

As COVID-19 threatened the lives of those incarcerated, compassionate release motions emerged as a critical mechanism to seek the release of those individuals most vulnerable to severe illness or death. But today, as the urgency of the pandemic diminishes and the grounds justifying release is limited in some Circuits, some may fear that compassionate release has returned to its flawed roots of being available only to a very few. This Article argues that the historical categories related to an individual’s age and health need not, and should not, be so narrowly viewed. Rather, these existing categories for compassionate release can be approached more expansively, by grounding them in an understanding of how an elderly individual’s health deteriorates in prison, and by calling attention to the inability of an incarcerated individual to access specialized and necessary medical care. Framing these categories in this way ultimately encompasses many elderly individuals in prison and those younger individuals with serious medical conditions who are receiving inadequate medical care. Given the rapidly aging federal prison population and the thousands of prisoners who suffer from significant medical conditions, many of whom have already served many years in prison and demonstrate compelling rehabilitation, these categories remain viable—and even promising— avenues for release.

Substance use disorders among adults during imprisonment in a medium security prison: Prevalence and risk indicators.

Research shows that the prevalence of substance use disorders among the prison population is high globally. Although prisons are highly controlled environments, access to drugs and other substances in prison remains a major problem. Yet, previous research is focussed mainly on the Western context, with the studies generally reporting on lifetime prevalence without reference to whether the disorders are manifest even within the controlled environment. To estimate the prevalence of substance use disorders evident while in prison in Ghana and associated risk indicators. For these purposes, substance use disorder was defined by any indication of dependency, or escalating use or socially problematic use during the 12months of imprisonment prior to the interview. The study involved 500 adults (443 men and 57 women) in a medium-security prison in Ghana who had served at least 1year of a prison sentence. Participants' alcohol use disorder was assessed separately from other substance use disorders which included cannabis, cocaine and other stimulants using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI); it is a structured interview and diagnostic tool for major psychiatric and substance use disorders inDSM-5 and ICD-10. Two percent of the 500 participants had used alcohol to the level of alcohol use disorder, and 6% had other substance use disorders in 12months prior to interview and while in prison. Cannabis (4%) and stimulants (3%) were the most frequently reported substance use disorders. Logistic regression model estimates indicate that younger age, prior offending and alcohol use dependence were significantly associated with such disorders in prison. In spite of efforts to prevent substance use in prison, nearly one in 10 of these prisoners were using alcohol or illicit drugs to a level indicative of substance use disorders. Our findings suggest that prioritising brief assessment may help identify those in most need of clinical help to limit their alcohol and illicit substance use problems.

The importance of screening for speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) in police custody

AbstractPeople who have speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) are more prevalent in criminal justice settings than in the wider population. Previous research focusing primarily on young people and the prison population has led to calls for early interventions and screening, particularly in youth justice settings. NHS Liaison and Diversion (L&D) referrals in a single police force region in England were screened for SLCN over a period of three months. The results indicate a need for early identification of SLCN for all age groups, and for those with no previous SLCN‐related diagnoses.

Opioid-related deaths in Ontario correctional facilities and penitentiaries (2009-2019).

The opioid crisis is a significant public health issue in North America that began in the 1990s with opioid-related deaths increasing each year. Although studies have been published regarding the incidence of opioid-related deaths in the general population, there is limited information regarding deaths in the prison population. To investigate the impact of the opioid epidemic in this vulnerable population, a retrospective study of all drug-related deaths that occurred in correctional facilities and penitentiaries in Ontario, Canada, between January 2009 and December 2019 was conducted. A total of 90 deaths were attributed to acute drug toxicity and the decedents ranged in age from 18 to 63 years and comprised 81 men and 9 women. The results of this study indicate the number of drug-related fatalities have increased by 375% (from 4 to 19) over the last 11 years. The detection of opioids in drug-related deaths has increased with fentanyl being the most frequently detected drug. Data also indicates the recent emergence of fentanyl-related analogues in this population. The results from this study provide valuable information about drug-related deaths in the Ontario prison system and provide insight into how the opioid crisis and the increased use of fentanyl and its analogues have affected this vulnerable population.

Peer support mental health teams in correctional settings in Uganda

Globally, the mental health and wellbeing of people who are incarcerated is a major public health and human rights issue.1 Approximately 70% of the world prison population is in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), and the pooled 1-year prevalence of living with a mental illness diagnosis in this population is high.1 People who are incarcerated and have untreated mental health conditions have a high likelihood of self-harming behaviours, violence to others, being physically or sexually victimised, increased rates of recidivism on release, and substance misuse.

Minority Women Incarcerated: The Vulnerabilities of Traveller Women in the Irish Criminal Justice System

Women comprise a minority of the prison population, representing 10.6% of the prison population in Ireland in 2020. An issue of pressing concern is the over-representation of minority ethnic women among female prisoners. In Ireland, Irish Traveller women are 22 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Traveller women. Their risk of imprisonment is greater than Traveller men who are over-represented among male prisoners. Traveller women in contact with the criminal justice system are likely to have experienced extreme deprivation, social exclusion, and current and historical/intergenerational discrimination. This article draws on evidence from published literature and a qualitative study undertaken by the authors to examine the vulnerabilities of Traveller women in prison in Ireland and the multiple and complex reasons for their over-representation in prison. To improve the situation of Traveller women in prison, the UN Bangkok Rules can be used to guide the development of relevant legislation, procedures, policy, and action plans. Traveller women in prison must not be overlooked in the implementation of the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty, which places a legal obligation in Ireland on prison authorities to promote equality, prevent discrimination, and protect the human rights of all affected by their policies and plans.

Soins psychiatriques en détention : quelles spécificités ?

Although epidemiological studies of the mental health of prisoners are limited, the literature is unanimous about the higher-than-average number of psychological disorders in the prison population, estimated in France to be 71,678 persons on June 1, 2022. While the psychiatric practice in prisons is perceived to be distinctive, are there objectively identifiable differences in terms of semiology and/or practice? What are its specificities? The literature underlines the epidemiological singularities regarding the distribution of psychological disorders in detention, but also the existence of particular clinical forms. Four approaches lend themselves to discussion, taking into account the problematic nature of each one: treating classical pathologies in an unusual setting, creating the dynamics of treating patients who have little or no access to treatment outside the prison, confronting penitentiary injunctions and reactionary situations, and finally taking into consideration the function of the psychiatrist, which cannot be limited to the question of pathology.

A SHORT CRITIQUE OF MINIMUM SENTENCES

The state has a constitutional duty to respect, promote and protect the rights of citizens. To this end, every citizen has the right to dignity, the right to equality, and the right to freedom and security of the person. Allied thereto is that they will not be subjected to punishment that is cruel, inhuman, and degrading, among others. With the advent of democracy, South Africa inherited a host of challenges and one of these challenges was the explosion of violent crime. Mandatory minimum sentences were introduced by the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 to serve as a temporary, emergency crime-control measure based on the commonly-held belief that harsh punishment would reduce crime. Since minimum sentencing legislation has been in full operation for more than two decades, one would expect crime in South Africa to be relatively under control. However, violent crimes like murder and rape in our society have not abated. It is argued that minimum sentences do not serve as a deterrent to violent crime, instead, they exacerbate prison overcrowding. Lengthy prison terms and high imprisonment rates fuel the conditions for higher crime rates as it impedes the objectives of rehabilitation and promotes recidivism. The state’s continued support for these increased sentences infringes on the constitutional rights of citizens. In this article, the author concludes that if we feel outraged by the high rate of violent crime, we need to find a sentencing regime that leads to the reduction rather than the exacerbation of crime in line with constitutional provisions.

Reentry support in Victoria, Australia: managing risk, or fostering agency?

More than half of Australia’s prison population have experienced prior incarceration. Factors such as homelessness, mental illness, and poverty compound the challenges of reentry. Reentry support in Victoria, Australia is state funded, yet delivered via three non-governmental organizations. In this article we explore practitioners’ experiences of working with people who were incarcerated in the liminal phase of reentry—where one is neither prisoner nor citizen but in-between. Practitioners reported trust and rapport are the central pillars of practice and choose to utilize strengths-based approaches instead of risk-based approaches, but felt that service brokerage is impeded by associated professionals’ concerns around risk.

New insights on tuberculosis transmission dynamics and drug susceptibility profiles among the prison population in Southern Brazil based on whole-genome sequencing.

The rate of tuberculosis (TB) infection among the prison population (PP) in Brazil is 28 times higher than that in the general population, and prison environment favors the spread of TB. To describe TB transmission dynamics and drug resistance profiles in PP using whole-genome sequencing (WGS). This was a retrospective study of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultivated from people incarcerated in 55 prisons between 2016 and 2019; only one isolate per prisoner was included. Information about movement from one prison to another was tracked. Clinical information was collected, and WGS was performed on isolates obtained at the time of TB diagnosis. Among 134 prisoners included in the study, we detected 16 clusters with a total of 58 (43%) cases of M. tuberculosis. Clusters ranged from two to seven isolates with five or fewer single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) differences, suggesting a recent transmission. Six (4.4%) isolates were resistant to at least one anti-TB drug. Two of these clustered together and showed resistance to rifampicin, isoniazid, and fluoroquinolones, with 100% concordance between WGS and phenotypic drug-susceptibility testing. Prisoners with clustered isolates had a high amount of movement between prisons (two to eight moves) during the study period. WGS demonstrated the recent transmission of TB within prisons in Brazil. The high movement among prisoners seems to be related to the transmission of the same M. tuberculosis strain within the prison system. Screening for TB before and after the movement of prisoners using rapid molecular tests could play a role in reducing transmission.

Шартты түрде соттаудың ұғымы мен құқықтық табиғаты жөнінде

In the context of transforming criminal policy, there is a humanization of the convicts detention conditions in places of deprivation of liberty, implementation of international legal acts in criminal and penal enforcement legislation, and expansion of the scope of applying alternative non-penitentiary sanctions. With the implementation of the new criminal legislation, the number of ‘prison population’, the bulk of which accounts for the use of conditional sentences, has decreased. The importance of this conditional sentence is due to the fact that reducing crime does not necessarily entail changes in the nature of punishment in the direction of strengthening the role of persuasion and the influence of organizations. These changes have been implemented through legal institutions that economically spend criminal repression, mitigating the coercive effects of punishment. Within the framework of legal science theory, there are different views on the legal nature of a conditional sentence. Therefore, due to the lack of a unified approach to solving issues related to the establishment of the grounds for the use of the institution of probation, the conditions performed by convicts during probation control, the determination of criminal record, the removal of criminal record, difficulties may arise. Moreover, in recent years, most of the repeat offenders have been conditionally convicted. All this actualized the issue of improving the institution of probation. Taking into account the theoretical and practical significance of the correct definition of the legal nature of a conditional sentence, the authors consider the concept of a conditional sentence and its legal nature and analyze various points of view of researchers, as well as explain the reasons for the appointment and refusal of a conditional sentence.

Impact of Prisoner Population on the Prison Rehabilitation Process in Sri Lanka

Prison is one of the main and important agencies which involves in the criminal justice process. Offenders who are sentenced to imprisonment are sent to this institution for rehabilitation. The main objective of the prison institution is to rehabilitate prisoners thereby helping them to understand what was wrong with their behaviors and helping them to become productive citizens in the future after releasing from prison. In order to achieve this task, the prison system should take necessary steps to conduct an effective rehabilitation process during the imprisonment period. The study was based on to study the impact of the prisoners population on the prison rehabilitation process in Sri Lanka.. The objective of the research was to identify basic rehabilitation problems caused by the prisoners population. The research was conducted in Mahara prison in the Gampaha District of the western province. The study sample included 50 prisoners out of 1500 prisoners of Mahara prison. The sample was selected using systematic sampling which is one of the probability sampling methods used. And also prison officers were selected under the same sample. The data obtained from the research have been extensively analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The finding reveals that the physical and human resources in prisons are limited compared to the increasing number of prisoners, referrals from prisoners to vocational sectors have decreased, and 66% of prisoners have health problems. Meanwhile, there are sexually transmitted diseases and rashes. Furthermore, remanded prisoners have increased due to delays in cases. To increase the effectiveness of the rehabilitation process, the prisoner population must be controlled, for that, it is important to have an interconnection between the court and prison

Are Supervision Violations Filling Prisons? The Role of Probation, Parole, and New Offenses in Driving Mass Incarceration.

Advocates for reform have highlighted violations of probation and parole conditions as a key driver of mass incarceration. As a 2019 Council of State Governments report declared, supervision violations are "filling prisons and burdening budgets." Yet few scholarly accounts estimate the precise role of technical violations in fueling prison populations during the prison boom. Using national surveys of state prison populations from 1979 to 2016, the authors document that most incarcerated persons are behind bars for new sentences. On average, just one in eight people in state prisons on any given day has been locked up for a technical violation of community supervision alone. Thus, strategies to substantially reduce prison populations must look to new criminal offenses and sentence length.

Prison overcrowding in Poland and Hungary

The aim of the article is to describe and discuss current problem in prisons’ system - overcrowding in prisons in Hungary and Poland. It is an essential problem which deserves an attention, prisons' overcrowding has been especially visible in these two countries, so it is eminently important to rise this problem in the dispute of doctrine and to try to solve it. This study contains both previous and present information, statistics, and position of international bodies on currently overcrowding of prison facilities. The legal regulations of these two countries are pretty similar, but there are still far away from perfection, that is why this article shows their advantages and drawbacks. The authors try to emphasize that overcrowding is a significant problem, they also offer some de lege ferenda ideas to resolve this alarming situation.