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Low levels of subjective wellbeing in prisoners may relate to mental health problems and difficulties in reintegration after imprisonment. The development of subjective wellbeing during imprisonment is mostly unclear. The purpose of this paper is to explore this development in a longitudinal study in association with mental disorders and socioeconomic factors.

Subjective wellbeing was assessed via a visual analogue scale and retrieved at admission to remand prison and then again after four and eight weeks. Changes in subjective wellbeing between time-points were analyzed taking into account mental disorders and socioeconomic factors, which were assessed by use of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview – Plus and the Camberwell Assessment of Need – Forensic Version, respectively.

On average, subjective wellbeing declined directly after remand prison admission, but differences between individuals were found. At remand prison admission, subjective wellbeing significantly improved rather than declined in prisoners with alcohol and substance use disorders, housing problems, unemployment prior to incarceration and in relatively older prisoners. Other related factors did not add significance to this model. In contrast, during remand imprisonment subjective wellbeing displayed an overall increase. For this increase, no predicting factors were found. However, prisoners with an antisocial personality disorder are more at risk of experiencing a decrease in wellbeing during remand imprisonment.

In general, the Dutch prison system appears not to result in a decrease in subjective wellbeing in prisoners suffering from a mental disorder during remand imprisonment.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of offence type, prior imprisonment and various socio-demographic characteristics on mortality at 28 and 365 days following prison release.

Using whole-population linked, routinely collected administrative state-based imprisonment and mortality data, the authors conducted a retrospective study of 12,677 offenders released from Western Australian prisons in the period 1994-2003. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine the association between mortality at 28 and 365 days post-release and offence type, prior imprisonment, and a range of socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, social disadvantage and Indigenous status).

Overall, 135 (1.1 per cent) died during the 365 days follow-up period, of these, 17.8 per cent (n=24) died within the first 28 days (four weeks) of their index release. Ex-prisoners who had committed drug-related offences had significantly higher risk of 28-day post-release mortality (HR=28.4; 95 per cent CI: 1.3-615.3, p=0.033), than those who had committed violent (non-sexual) offences. A significant association was also found between the number of previous incarcerations and post-release mortality at 28 days post-release, with three prior prison terms carrying the highest mortality risk (HR=73.8; 95 per cent CI: 1.8-3,092.5, p=0.024). No association between mortality and either offence type or prior imprisonment was seen at 365 days post-release.

Post-release mortality at 28 days was significantly associated with offence type (with drug-related offences carrying the greatest risk) and with prior imprisonment, but associations did not persist to 365 days after release. Targeting of short-term transitional programmes to reduce preventable deaths after return to the community could be tailored to these high-risk ex-prisoners.

The development of information technologies has led to the restructuring of the boundaries within and between organizations in a number of areas of social life. Examines the impact of a specific form of information technology being introduced in the field of punishment and control – the electronic monitoring of sentenced offenders. Electronic surveillance and home imprisonment are features of the current restructuring of the boundaries between prison, work and family life. It is both the physical and the cultural boundaries between “home” and “prison” that are being readjusted. Over the past 200 years these two spheres of social life have been constructed around incompatible sets of values. However the complex contradictions involved in making the boundaries between these two spheres more permeable have not been fully explored in current penal discourses.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of four different sport programs on various social and subjective health outcomes among prisoners.

Four different sport programs (endurance, strength, dance-like martial arts, soccer) were provided in 2020 and 2021 in a German prison. Participants completed paper-pencil surveys before and after the sport programs (n = 134 observations), including questions about potential social health (enjoyment of physical activity, interpersonal exchange, interpersonal trust, self-efficacy) and subjective health outcomes (health status, health satisfaction, well-being). Further information such as prisoner characteristics were added to the data.

Results of regression analyses show that the endurance program had a significant positive effect on interpersonal trust, while the soccer program had a negative effect. Subjective well-being increased significantly after the strength and the soccer program. The weekly sport hours before imprisonment had a positive association with enjoyment of physical activity and interpersonal exchange while being negatively related to health status and health satisfaction. Furthermore, the number of months of imprisonment before the survey, being a young offender, the prisoners’ body mass index, educational level and migration background were significantly associated with several social and subjective health outcomes.

This study analyzed the effects of different sport programs for prisoners on various social and subjective health outcomes, revealing differences across programs and outcomes. The findings suggest that sport can be a way to enhance prisoners’ social and subjective health, ultimately facilitating their rehabilitation process.

Over a decade since the Special Criminal Court (SCC) was established in Cameroon, hundreds of individuals have been indicted, tried and convicted. Sentences have been imposed, most of which include a term of imprisonment (principal punishment/penalty) and confiscation as accessory penalty or punishment. Research focus has not been directed at the sentences which, as argued in this paper, are inconsistent, incommensurate with the amounts of money stolen and a significant departure from the Penal Code. This paper aims to explore the aspect of sentencing by the SCC.

To identify, highlight and discuss the issue of sentencing, the paper looks at a blend of primary and secondary materials: primary materials here include but not limited to the judgements of the SCC and other courts in Cameroon and the Penal Code. Secondary materials shall include the works of scholars in the fields of criminal law, criminal justice and penal reform.

A few findings were made: first, the judges are inconsistent in the manner in which they determine the appropriate sentence. Second, in making that determination, the judges would have been oblivious to the prescripts in the Penal Code, which provides the term of imprisonment, and in the event of a mitigating circumstance, the prescribed minimum to be applied. Yet, the default imposition of an aggravating circumstance (being a civil servant) was not explored by the SCC. Finally, whether the sentences imposed are commensurate with the amounts of monies stolen.

This research unravels key insights into the functioning of the SCC. It advances the knowledge thereon and adds to the literature on corruption in Cameroon.

The prosecution and judges at the SCC should deepen their knowledge of Cameroonian criminal law, especially on the nature of liberty given to judges to determine within the prescribed range of the sentence to be imposed but also consider the existence of an aggravating factor – civil servant. They must also consider whether the sentences imposed befit the crime for which they are convicted.

The paper is an original contribution with new insights on the manner in which sentencing should be approached by the SCC.

Most prisoners are eventually returned to their communities, making their transition into the community and aftercare a fundamental aspect of successful re-entry. This paper aims to explore the stages of someone’s reintegration from pre-release, through to reintegration and desistance and consider the factors relevant to the re-entry process for those who have offended and how to enhance this process. The aim of this paper was twofold; first to highlight the various factors and issues involved in the re-entry and reintegration process, particularly for those who are released after imprisonment and, second, to consider the significance of aftercare services in facilitating this process.

This paper opted for a brief review of the literature regarding incarceration and reintegration and some of the gaps in the literature. This paper will commence with a discussion of the effects of imprisonment on those who are incarcerated, then a consideration of the re-entry process, followed by a discussion of the reintegration process and desistance. Following will be reflections regarding the implications for practice. A case study is used to illustrate these points.

The current paper proposes a framework by which organisations and service providers working with those who are released from prison can use or incorporate into their practice to enhance aftercare support. The case study is used as an example to further illustrate this.

Implications for practice are also considered as well as recommendations to aid the re-entry and aftercare process. Suggestions are also offered to those agencies that are responsible for the provision of aftercare services for those released from prison.

This paper offers some considerations regarding the importance of the preparing and planning for release with a specific focus on aftercare services and their role in the re-entry and reintegration process.

The purpose of this paper is to explore supposed inevitable personal decline for long-term prisoners, particularly those serving a sentence of life without parole.

Using the prison records of a life without parole sentenced prisoner.

Findings suggest that prisoner deterioration is not inevitable in a whole life prison sentence.

Findings are based on one account, of a female prisoner.

Distinct services and support are required for those with a natural life prison sentence.

To date, there is limited research of prisoners serving life without parole, particularly the mental health implications of denying a prisoner future parole.

Women represent approximately 6% of the prison population of Sweden (total ‐ 5000). This article presents a study of female inmates in the closed prison for women, Hinseberg, in Sweden. The study examines the inmates and staff culture on the basis of concepts such as interaction rituals, status, role conflicts and social representations. The methodology included questionnaires to all inmates, qualitative interviews with inmates and staff and observation within the prison. Among the findings, it was clear that some inmates have a higher status than others, which is linked to the type of crime committed, years of imprisonment, previous imprisonment, relations to male gang members, and charisma. So‐called ‘Queens’ rule the wings and maintain the inmates’ codes. Examples of these codes are: do not associate with the staff, do not talk too long with staff, do not be an informer, do not seek treatment programmes, and do not trust anybody. Those who challenge the codes are seen as an informer or traitor, and the culture in the prison was found to be oppressive towards women who want to seek treatment and support from staff. The study also shows that there are similarities in the staff and the inmates’ cultures. Experienced prison officers often have a significant impact on the staff culture, and among staff there are informal codes, i.e. that you should not be ‘too close’ to the inmates and do not trust the inmates. This leads to an objectifying and distancing approach in relation to the inmates. In both cultures stereotypical social representations of ‘the other’ is created, which have a negative impact on the possibilities for working with rehabilitation.

Of all social relations the withdrawal of individual liberty by the State is arguably the most discussed and the least understood. Although there has latterly been an increasing interest in the issue of crime, relatively little attention has been paid to the consequential issue of punishment and especially to its most severe manifestation (in many cultures), imprisonment.

According to the German penal code, offenders can basically be sanctioned to a prison sentence or (in cases of misdemeanours) to a fine. If an offender is sentenced to a fine, but is not able or willing to make the payment, then the German state can administer a custodial sentence as a replacement. This is called an “Ersatzfreiheitsstrafe” (EFS). The proportion of EFS prisoners accounts for 10% of the German prison population and thus appears to be strikingly high considering the consequences of an imprisonment for the detainee. It has been considered that this is due to high levels of mental disorders in the population of EFS prisoners. This article thus aims at delineating the prevalence of mental disorders in EFS prisoners according to socio‐demographic data and ICD‐10 diagnoses of two recent German studies. Results of these studies indicate that EFS prisoners indeed are for the most part socially and economically deprived and show a high prevalence of mental disorders. It is argued that their resulting lack of social competence may lead to incapability of avoiding their fee being converted into a prison sentence. As a consequence EFSs have to be seen as supporting social stigmatization and risking a further exclusion from society.