Treatment Retention in a Prison-based Residential Sex Offender Treatment Program

This study assessed the role of static factors, a dynamic factor (motivation to change sexually deviant behavior), and an administrative factor in predicting treatment retention within a prison-based sex offender treatment program. The analyses also included assessing differences in initial levels of motivation and differences in beginning-versus end-of-treatment motivation scores for various types of program discharges. The sample consisted of 251 individuals who were admitted to a residential prison-based sex offender treatment program where 46% completed the program. Paired comparison t-tests showed higher motivation scores at the end of treatment only among treatment completers. Multivariate analyses showed that treatment retention was associated with higher initial motivation scores, higher levels of education and admission to treatment within 3 months of initial commitment to prison. Implications for motivational enhancement programming as well as for changes in admission criteria are discussed. The viewpoints expressed in this paper reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views the Federal Bureau of Prisons.     

Attitudes of detainees and prison staff towards tobacco control policy in Switzerland: A qualitative interview study

Purpose

To explore detainees and staff's attitudes towards tobacco use, in order to assist prison administrators to develop an ethically acceptable tobacco control policy based on stakeholders’ opinion.

Design

Qualitative study based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 31 prisoners and 27 staff prior (T1) and after the implementation (T2) of a new smoke-free regulation (2009) in a Swiss male post-trial prison consisting of 120 detainees and 120 employees.

Results

At T1, smoking was allowed in common indoor rooms and most working places. Both groups of participants expressed the need for a more uniform and stricter regulation, with general opposition towards a total smoking ban. Expressed fears and difficulties regarding a stricter regulation were increased stress on detainees and strain on staff, violence, riots, loss of control on detainees, and changes in social life. At T2, participants expressed predominantly satisfaction. They reported reduction in their own tobacco use and a better protection against second-hand smoke. However, enforcement was incomplete. The debate was felt as being concentrated on regulation only, leaving aside the subject of tobacco reduction or cessation support.

Conclusion

Besides an appropriate smoke-free regulation, further developments are necessary in order to have a comprehensive tobacco control policy in prisons.     

Alcoholics Anonymous and hazardously drinking women returning to the community after incarceration: predictors of attendance and outcome

Background: The number of women incarcerated within the United States has risen dramatically in recent decades, and high rates of alcohol problems are evident among this population. Although little is known about the patterns of help utilization and efficacy for alcohol problems, preliminary evidence suggests that Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a widely available resource for this population. Methods: Data were collected as part of a study evaluating the effect of a brief intervention to reduce alcohol use among hazardously drinking (i.e., score of 8 or above on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test or 4 or more drinks at a time on at least 3 days in prior 3 months) incarcerated women. The current study characterized demographic, clinical, and previous AA attendance variables associated with AA attendance in the 6 months following incarceration. Associations between frequency of AA attendance and drinking outcomes following incarceration were also evaluated. Results: Among the 224 participants who provided data about AA attendance, 54% reported some AA attendance during the follow‐up assessment period. AA attendance in the year prior to study entry (OR = 4.02; 95% CI: 3.32 to 4.71) and greater baseline consequences of alcohol use (OR = 2.09; 95% CI: 1.73 to 2.44) were associated with increased odds of higher frequency of AA attendance following incarceration. Weekly or greater AA attendance was associated with reductions in negative drinking consequences (B = ?0.45; p < 0.01) and frequency of drinking days (B = ?0.28; p < 0.01) following incarceration. Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest that AA is frequently utilized by hazardously drinking women following incarceration. Alcohol outcomes may be enhanced by AA attendance at a weekly or greater frequency is associated with better alcohol outcomes relative to lower levels of AA attendance. Evaluation of clinical guidelines for prescribing AA attendance for incarcerated women remains a task for future research.     

The prison setting as a place of enforced residence, its mental health effects, and the mental healthcare implications

The subject of place is salient certainly when deliberating the health of prisoners as a social group. This paper provides an overview and assessment of health and place in relation to mental health and the prison locale. Particular attention is devoted to prison culture, both staff and inmate. The incarceration experience (i.e. the nature of enforced residence in the prison environment) can affect negatively prisoners' mental health. The mental health of the prison population is poor, and mental health services in the prison setting have need of further improvement. However, the provision of mental healthcare and the pursuit of good mental health in the prison milieu are challenging. The prison-based—exceedingly complex—three-way relationship between culture–mental and health–mental healthcare is debated.     

Health needs assessment in a male prison in England

Objectives

To assess the health needs of prisoners in a male category B prison in Bristol, England, to identify areas for improving health in the prison.

Study design

Cross-sectional and qualitative.

Methods

Analysis of prisoners’ self-reported health needs at reception and at a secondary health screen; prisoners’ access to primary care, inpatients, mental health, sexual health and substance misuse services; and prescribed medications. Random selection of prisoners for interviews. Focus groups and interviews with staff and stakeholders.

Results

18 prisoners were interviewed (29% of those randomly selected), five focus groups were held with staff and stakeholders involved in health care provision in the prison and four interviews were held with staff and stakeholders. The areas of greatest health needs were identified as dental care, mental health and substance misuse. Prisoners and staff generally reported good access to most health care staff, provision of prescribed medication, bloodborne virus vaccination and treatment of substance misuse. Twenty nine recommendations were identified with five high-priority areas for improvement including an urgent review of dental services; stronger joint commissioning arrangements for health and social care; installing an integrated IT system; prevention of disease and health promotion; better use of the voluntary sector. A detailed action plan was developed to address all the recommendations and this has formed the basis of a programme of ongoing quality improvement work which is monitored by the Prison Partnership Board. Progress has been made against all key areas.

Conclusions

The mixed methodology which involved analysis of health data and talking to a wide group of stakeholders, including prisoners, helped triangulate the data. The process of undertaking the health needs assessment shifted the focus from ’health care’ to ’health’. This has facilitated a significant reframing of the concepts of ’health’ and ’health need’ with ongoing work now focused on the prison as a whole system, not merely on the provision of health care within the prison. Many improvements have already been made in response to the assessment.     

Incarcerated sex workers and HIV prevention in China: Social suffering and social justice countermeasures

Sex workers in China are routinely coercively detained through administrative mechanisms outside of legal procedures, but very little is known about the anthropologic and public health context of these policies. This biosocial analysis of female Chinese sex worker detention uses ethnographic, legal, and public health data to describe social suffering and countervailing social justice responses among incarcerated sex workers (ISW) in China. Compared to sex workers not detained in China, ISW face substantive inequalities inscribed in physical and psychological suffering. Chinese sex worker detention camp practices may not only systematically increase HIV/syphilis risk among ISW, but also work to narrow women's social spheres of influence, a particularly cruel tragedy in a Chinese social system that highly values social and personal connections. A limited empiric analysis of Guangxi Province STI clinic data shows that cities detaining sex workers have higher mean HIV prevalence compared to cities that do not detain sex workers. While incipient medical and legal movements in China have generated momentum for expanding ISW services and resources, there is still substantial variation in the implementation of laws that ensure basic life-saving medical treatments. Post-incarceration social justice programs for sex workers linking women to essential STI/HIV resources, reconnecting broken social lives, and helping restore interpersonal relationships are urgently needed.     

Les effets de l’incarcération chez les mineurs

Aim of this study

In this article we wish to question the effects of incarceration on minors. The history of prison reveals that it is the work of a humanist and philanthropic discourse that ensued from the effects of revolutionary ideas. However, from the moment of its reform – that transformed it from a place of confinement to a penal institution – it has only demonstrated its dysfunctional aspect. Our objective is to initiate a reflection on the effects of incarceration, whether it be collective or individual and in particular when it involves adolescents.

Psychiatric disorders among older prisoners: a systematic review and comparison study against older people in the community

Objectives: Despite emerging evidence that older prisoners experience poor mental health, literature in this area is still limited. In the present systematic review and meta-analysis, we report on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among older prisoners and compare our findings against community studies on older people.

Methods: We searched on Assia, PsycInfo, MedLine, Embase, Web of Science, Google and Gov.uk. We carried out bias assessments, rated studies for quality and ran a heterogeneity test. We meta-analysed prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders through an aggregate weighted mean and calculated relative risk (RR) and statistical significance against community studies. Sensitivity analyses were further performed.

Results: We reviewed nine studies and obtained the following prevalence: ‘Any psychiatric disorder’ 38.4%, depression 28.3%, schizophrenia/psychoses 5.5%, bipolar disorder 4.5%, dementia 3.3%, cognitive impairment 11.8%, personality disorder 22.9%, alcohol abuse 15.9%, anxiety disorders 14.2%, PTSD 6.2%. Older prisoners were found to have higher RR for every single psychiatric disorder against older people in the community, with the sole exception of alcohol abuse (RR = 1) and dementia (RR = .75). The prevalence rates were statistically significantly higher (p < .05) among the prisoners for ‘Any psychiatric disorder’, depression and personality disorder. Overall, the sensitivity analyses confirmed our original results.

Conclusion: Our findings point at a high prevalence of every single psychiatric disorder among older prisoners, who also experience rates of dementia and alcohol abuse comparable to those reported in the community. Our results have relevant implications for policy and practice in this area. Further research is crucial to confirm findings from this study.     

Processus de radicalisation en milieu carcéral : de la criminogenèse à la radicalogenèse

ObjectivesTo demonstrate the process of radicalisation within the prison environment, via the notion of radicalogenesis, by analogy with the concept of criminogenesis While the latter focuses on the pre-criminal situation and studies what prompts a subject to engage in criminal activity, for the genesis of radicalisation we concentrate on the post-criminal situation of individuals, in order to untangle the stages that can bring a prisoner to become radicalised.MethodAn analysis of the literature on the process of radicalisation, and on the genesis of criminality; this is backed up by the methodology of clinical follow-up in the context of the psychological/psychotherapeutic work undertaken with detainees over a period of six years in French prisons.ResultsThe results from the follow-up of detainees caught up in a process of radicalisation, and from the review of the literature show that the prison environment can facilitate radicalisation through a process whereby the identity of an individual becomes more vulnerable following a criminal act that leads to incarceration – an act that is sometimes traumatic for the perpetrator.DiscussionHaving summarised, in table form, the different theories of radicalisation, and discussed their points of similarity/difference, we describe four phases in the genesis of radicalisation: vulnerable identity, dis-identification, conversion and re-identification, radicalisation. We want to emphasise that this process is strictly individual and depends on the subjective structure of the person becoming radicalised.ConclusionsWe reiterate the importance of psychological/psychotherapeutic support in prisons, particularly for the more vulnerable individuals, and those made more vulnerable still by their acting-out. Without this support, the individual risks becoming radicalised in order to find a new pole of identification, as a means of survival.