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This study aims to examine how prisoners’ early release affects other citizens’ perceived insecurity and their attitudes towards those released prisoners, and how citizens’ political orientation influences these variables.

A total of 383 Portuguese participants were presented with a recommendation from the United Nations for the release of prisoners because of COVID-19 and then asked to fill in a questionnaire measuring their political orientation, support for the early release of prisoners, perceived insecurity regarding such measure and their attitudes towards the released prisoners.

Results showed that support for the release of prisoners during COVID-19 is associated with perceived insecurity and both, in turn, predicts inclusive attitudes regarding these prisoners, while only perceived insecurity is associated with an agreement with an intensification of social control measures. Right-wing participants were found to express the negative side. The more participants felt insecure, the more they believed released prisoners should not have the same rights as common citizens and the more they should be left out of the community.

The major limitation of this study concerns the sample: the authors collected answers from Portuguese participants exclusively, most of which held a university degree.

At least two major implications can be drawn from this study’s results. These implications deal with prisoners’ entrance in what can be considered a cycle of exclusion and the promotion of their social reintegration once they are released from prison.

The findings point out the necessity to firstly put an effort in deconstructing the insecurity perception that results from the prospective of having prisoners back into society – that is to understand why it happens and how it can be reduced – promoting efficacy in the inclusion of these prisoners and preventing the emergence of controlling or protective approaches directed to these individuals in their return to society by enhancing people’s awareness that the social reintegration of ex-prisoners will benefit the whole community.

The authors present a different perspective of the impact that managing COVID-19 in prisons has on society.

The purpose of this paper is to explore prison drug injecting prevalence, identify any changes in injecting prevalence and practice during imprisonment and explore views on prison needle exchange.

An empirical prospective cohort survey conducted between 2006 and 2008. The study involved a random sample of 267 remand and sentenced prisoners from a large male category B prison in England where no prison needle exchange operates. Questionnaires were administered with prisoners on reception and, where possible, at one, three and six months during their sentence.

In total, 64 per cent were injecting until admission into prison. The majority intended to stop injecting in prison (93 per cent), almost a quarter due to the lack of needle exchange (23 per cent). Yet when hypothetically asked if they would continue injecting in prison if needle exchange was freely available, a third of participants (33 per cent) believed that they would. Injecting cessation happened on prison entry and appeared to be maintained during the sentence.

Not providing sterile needles may increase risks associated with injecting for prisoners who continue to inject. However, providing such equipment may prolong injecting for other prisoners who currently cease injecting on account of needle exchange programmes (NEPs) not being provided in the UK prison setting.

Not providing sterile needles may increase risks associated with injecting for prisoners who continue to inject. However, providing such equipment may prolong injecting for other prisoners who currently cease injecting on account of NEPs not being provided in the UK prison setting.

This survey is the first to question specifically regarding the timing of injecting cessation amongst male prisoners and explore alongside intention to inject should needle exchange facilities be provided in prison.

Opioid substitution treatment (OST), such as Buprenorphine, has become a well-established evidence-based approach for the treatment of inmates with opioid use disorder (OUD) in most of the developed world. However, its application in Lebanon remains mainly as a community-based intervention. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the need of its implementation within the Lebanese correctional system.

The work is a pilot cross-sectional study that compares two groups: 30 male adult prisoners with OUD convictions receiving symptomatic treatment and 30 male adult community patients with OUD receiving Buprenorphine. The objective was to measure the difference in the patients’ general perception and satisfaction of the treatments available. OUD was diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition criteria and the level of satisfaction was measured by “Treatment Perceptions Questionnaire (TPQ).”

The prison group reported significantly lower satisfaction when compared to the community group (total TPQ mean scores: M=34.73, SD =4.12 and M=16.67, SD =4.78, respectively, with t (56.76) =15.68, p=0.000). Furthermore, age, marital status, education level and elapsed time in treatment had no significant interactions with the total TPQ score.

The major principles of the ethics of care and evidence-based safe practices will be proposed for the introduction of Buprenorphine to Lebanese prisons. This work provides an opportunity for the expansion of the Lebanese OST program and consequently other countries in the region could benefit from this experience.

The psychological therapies are widely considered within the forensic literature as holding a useful role in the prison system, however, despite this, very little research into the psychological therapies has taken place. Further, where research is carried out, it is often associated with the need for evidence-based practice (EBP), involving quantification and randomization. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper will initially introduce the importance of research into the psychological therapies in prison, followed by a consideration of EBP which can be thought of as the current movement governing research in the psychological therapies in the UK.

However, in providing a focused critique of EBP, particularly within prisons, this paper will attempt to pave the way for a consideration of alternative research methodologies and resultant methods in researching the psychological therapies in prisons in the UK.

Through this it is argued that research within the prison setting should act not to promote interventions and create an evidence-based as such, but to provide an accessible body of knowledge for the psychological therapists working in prisons in the UK.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current provision of opioid substitution therapy (OST) during and immediately following release from detention in prisons in England and Wales.

A group of experts was convened to comment on current practices and to make recommendations for improving OST management in prison. Current practices were previously assessed using an online survey and a focus group with experience of OST in prison (Webster, 2017).

Disruption to the management of addiction and reduced treatment choice for OST adversely influences adequate provision of OST in prison. A key concern was the routine diversion of opiate substitutes to other prisoners. The new controlled drug formulations were considered a positive development to ensure streamlined and efficient OST administration. The following patient populations were identified as having concerns beyond their opioid use, and therefore require additional considerations in prison: older people with comorbidities and complex treatment needs; women who have experienced trauma and have childcare issues; and those with existing mental health needs requiring effective understanding and treatment in prison.

Integration of clinical and psychosocial services would enable a joint care plan to be tailored for each individual with opioid dependence and include options for detoxification or maintenance treatment. This would better enable those struggling with opioid use to make informed choices concerning their care during incarceration and for the period immediately following their release. Improvements in coordination of OST would facilitate inclusion of strategies to further streamline this process for the benefit of prisoners and prison staff.

Recent ethnographic research has examined the forces that shape the working lives of prison managers, in particular, the growth of managerialism, pushing in from the outside and the deeply rooted local cultures that exist within. The purpose of this paper is to reconsider the interplay of these forces in the context of a therapeutic community (TC) prison.

This paper draws upon ethnographic research conducted in two prisons and expands this using an autoethnographic approach to examine the experience of governing a TC prison.

The original study described how the dynamic interaction of globalised change and local culture created gave rise to “prison managerialism”. This notion reflects the negotiation between the global managerialism and local occupational culture. This concept is equally relevant in a TC prison, albeit it exists in an altered form reflecting the distinct characteristics of the local culture.

The approach builds upon an ethnographic study, expanding this through autoethnography. This inevitably limits the scope and perspective as it is looking at a specific context. It nevertheless highlights the distinctive challenges of managing a TC prison.

The work has implications for the management of TC prisons in practice, including human resource management such as recruitment, selection, appraisal and development of those managers.

The paper applies and revisits a recent in-depth study of prison managers, re-imagining and revising this to reflect the distinct context of managing a TC prison.