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Article
Publication date: 5 December 2017

Camilo Olaya, Juliana Gomez-Quintero and Andrea Catalina Navarrete

This paper presents an actor-based conceptualization of the increasing oscillatory pattern of prison overcrowding in Colombia. The research proposes a dynamic hypothesis that…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper presents an actor-based conceptualization of the increasing oscillatory pattern of prison overcrowding in Colombia. The research proposes a dynamic hypothesis that explains that unintended behavioural pattern as a result of delayed balance feedback loops shaped by decision-making processes of actors that intend to control crime. This system matches a well-known systemic archetype that explains those persistent oscillations. The paper also introduces a simulation model for testing that dynamic hypothesis and for delivering concrete courses of action. This work illustrates the relevance for policymakers to understand the dynamic complexity of social systems as the outcome of the agency of actors who take action to defend their own interests. Such actions ultimately form a complex web of interactions that drive the performance of such systems with unintended consequences. In particular, the construction of explicit models provides better chances of devising policies that consider the system-level implications of those interactions.

Design/methodology/approach

This work uses system dynamics modelling. First, the paper presents a conceptual model anchored in operational thinking, which refers to the identification of actors and decisions, and the manner in which those decisions ultimately build the respective social system in which the oscillatory pattern emerges. Second, it identifies key feedback structures that result from those chains of decisions. Finally, the paper introduces a simulation model for suggesting policy implications for decisionmakers.

Findings

The increasing oscillatory pattern that prison overcrowding in Colombia has displayed over the last 20 years is the outcome of a wide variety of laws that increase sanctions on criminal conducts, a phenomenon known as “legislative inflation”. Such reactions against crime are propelled and sustained by society and policymakers as the result of static and linear thinking that simply delivers “more punishment” of crime – harsher legislation and longer prison terms – which ultimately boosts long-term prison overcrowding and further cycles of crime control and overcrowding. Such actions create permanent negative feedback loops that involve various material and information delays, which – coupled with the reinforcing feedback loops – explain the previously mentioned behavioural pattern. Through a system dynamics simulation model, this paper tests and explains the proposed dynamic hypothesis and shows how policymakers can enhance and develop their dynamic understanding to explore and design effective policies intended to tackle prison overcrowding.

Practical implications

This paper presents a practical and concrete case that bridges the fields of criminal policy and prison management through systems thinking. It uses the case of prison overcrowding in Colombia to demonstrate the relevance of incorporating systemic thinking into the cognitive portfolio of policymakers if they aspire to improve complex systems.

Originality/value

Criminal policy and prison management are different fields that typically belong to different traditions (law and criminal psychology for the former, public administration for the latter). The work presented here bridges those perspectives under a single engineering and systemic perspective that answers questions in both fields and serves as a unifying framework for designing more coherent criminal policies that meet the practical requirements and restrictions that prison management implies.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 47 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 September 2021

Sanjica Faletar Tanacković, Meri Bajić and Martina Dragija Ivanović

This chapter presents findings from a study into reading interests and habits of prisoners in six Croatian penitentiaries, and their perception and use of prison libraries. The…

Abstract

This chapter presents findings from a study into reading interests and habits of prisoners in six Croatian penitentiaries, and their perception and use of prison libraries. The study was conducted with the help of self-administered print survey. A total of 30% of prison population (male and female) in selected prisons was included in the study and a total of 504 valid questionnaires were returned (response rate of 81.3%). Findings indicate that reading is the respondents’ most popular leisure activity and that they read more now than before coming to prison. Respondents read more fiction than non-fiction. Most frequently they read crime novels, thrillers, and historical novels. To a lesser degree, they read religious literature, biographies, spiritual novels, social problem novels, self-help, war novels, science fiction, erotic novels, romances, spy novels and horrors. Respondents would like to read daily newspapers and magazines, and books about sport, health, travel, computers, hobbies, cookbooks, etc. Respondents have wide reading interests (both in relation to fiction and non-fiction) but they do not have access to them in their prison library. Respondents reported that reading makes their life in prison easier and their time in prison passes faster with books. Only about a quarter of respondents are satisfied with their prison library collection. Almost a fifth of respondents does not visit the library at all because it does not have anything they would like to find there: newspapers, modern literature, non-fiction, reading material for visually impaired and computers.

Details

Exploring the Roles and Practices of Libraries in Prisons: International Perspectives
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-861-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 March 2019

Emanuela Saita, Monica Accordini and Del Loewenthal

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the use of a phototherapeutic technique called “Talking Pictures” within the forensic setting. This approach involves the use of a set of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the use of a phototherapeutic technique called “Talking Pictures” within the forensic setting. This approach involves the use of a set of photographs to facilitate clients’ disclosure, self-growth and promote the development of positive self-narratives. The use of art therapies and the construction of adaptive identity narratives have been proven to support desistance and increase resocialization in the prison population.

Design/methodology/approach

A 42-year-old Italian male offender was met for six therapy sessions and invited to talk about his past, present and future through the use of photographs. Session transcripts were analysed using the software for linguistic analysis T-LAB.

Findings

Results show a progression in the language used during the sessions: in the beginning the client uses a denotative language with many concrete nouns and no emotional words, in subsequent sessions his speech begins to assume more symbolic connotations and emotional words are used to describe past traumas as well as to find new meanings to present events. Moreover, the fixity of the client’s self-image is contrasted with the emergence of new sides to his personality encompassing agency and self-worth.

Research limitations/implications

The study is based on a single case, therefore results cannot be generalised to the prison population; moreover, the absence of any follow-up and standardized measurements of the client’s progression should be addressed by future research by both involving larger samples and including follow-up and quantitative measures of the study results.

Practical implications

The paper provides details on an innovative technique that might be used to explore the offenders’ goods and values and to develop truly redemptive rehabilitation programmes.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the scant literature on phototherapy in prisons and connects it with a reflection on desistance indicating that phototherapeutic interventions might be used to promote positive self-narratives, thus increasing desistance.

Details

International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-9200

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 July 2023

Daniela Reichl, Bruno Heindl, Anette Lea Distler and Sabine Steins-Loeber

Prisoners with substance use disorder (SUD) are at risk of mental health problems. Given the common co-occurring of psychopathic traits with SUDs, probably because of underlying…

Abstract

Purpose

Prisoners with substance use disorder (SUD) are at risk of mental health problems. Given the common co-occurring of psychopathic traits with SUDs, probably because of underlying impulsive traits (Ellingson et al., 2018), this study aims to examine the relation between psychopathy (impulsive antisociality and fearless dominance) and the functioning of incarcerated individuals with SUD. The authors investigated whether impulsivity (motor, nonplanning and attentional) can account for the relationship between one psychopathy facet (impulsive antisociality) and craving and mental health problems.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors assessed self-reported impulsivity, psychopathy, craving and mental health problems in 121 male incarcerated individuals with SUD and calculated cross-sectional linear regression analyses and mediation models.

Findings

Impulsive antisociality was positively related to all impulsivity facets, craving and mental health problems. Attentional impulsivity mediated the relationship of impulsive antisociality with craving and mental health problems. Fearless dominance was related to lower attentional and nonplanning impulsivity, craving and mental health problems.

Research limitations/implications

Future studies should investigate these relations in longitudinal studies and evaluate tailored approaches, for example, mindfulness interventions.

Practical implications

Interventions to reduce craving and improve mental health might be important for those who display self-centered, antisocial behavior but are less relevant for those with fearless, dominant interpersonal behavior. Addressing attentional impulsivity may be of special interest in this regard.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study was the first to investigate the mediating role of different impulsivity facets for the association of impulsive antisociality with craving and with mental health problems in incarcerated individuals with SUD.

Details

International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-9200

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2019

Angelika Reichstein

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether, although the state has a duty to protect prisoners, there should nevertheless be a right for prisoners to decide when and how they…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether, although the state has a duty to protect prisoners, there should nevertheless be a right for prisoners to decide when and how they die.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilising a utopian thought experiment, the paper covers a series of interrelated issues: the aims of punishment, the functions of prisons, the rights of prisoners and the responsibilities of the state towards inmates. While the paper takes a European focus, it is of interest to a global audience, as the philosophical ideas raised are universally applicable.

Findings

As the right to die advances in society, so should it advance for prisoners. Once assisted dying has been legalised, it should also be available for dying prisoners.

Originality/value

The question has so far not been analysed in depth. With an ageing prison population, however, it is vital that we start engaging with the problems posed by an ageing and dying prison population.

Details

International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-9200

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Women's Imprisonment in Eastern Europe: ‘Sitting out Time’
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-283-7

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2021

Maria Niełaczna

This paper aims to explain the phenomenon of low incidence of COVID-19 in Polish prisons. This paper addresses three questions: was the Polish prison system ready to respond to…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explain the phenomenon of low incidence of COVID-19 in Polish prisons. This paper addresses three questions: was the Polish prison system ready to respond to the threats posed by COVID-19; what action has it taken in this regard; and with what effect?

Design/methodology/approach

An analysis of the current condition of the Polish prison system was undertaken focusing on items that were the focus of prisoners’ complaints, the interventions of the Ombudsman and the bulletins of the Central Board of the Prison Service. This analysis has been juxtaposed with the opinions of experts in epidemiology and medicine and changes introduced in the law relating to prisoners.

Findings

During the COVID-19 epidemic – despite serious chronic problems in the Polish penitentiary system – the statistics indicated that 24 individuals were infected and no deaths occurred. When compared to the statistics of non-prison cases, this result is extremely low.

Research limitations/implications

Given the newness of the problem, the conflicts of different interests, the “double” isolation of prisons (penal and epidemiological) and the reluctance of the prison administration to provide information about what is happening behind prison walls, researchers must rely on statistics and subjective contacts with prisoners, for example, by investigating their complaints.

Practical implications

As a result of the research, the author believes that the transparency of institutions such as prisons should be ensured, primarily expressed in the provision of information to both prisoners and the public relating to methods adopted to prevent epidemics in the context of prison and prisoners.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is to show how prisons have managed in a new, exceptional situation to balance the right to health and personal safety of prisoners and warders, with the right to contact with the outside world and humane living conditions in a closed and doubly isolated space. The findings presented will add value to the knowledge and effectiveness of the prison administration’s reaction and response to an emergency such as an epidemic.

Details

International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-9200

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 September 2022

Bartłomiej Skowroński and Elżbieta Talik

Penal institutions affect their inmates’ mental as well as physical health. Prisoners have higher rates of physical health conditions than the public. While it is known that…

Abstract

Purpose

Penal institutions affect their inmates’ mental as well as physical health. Prisoners have higher rates of physical health conditions than the public. While it is known that psychosocial factors determine patients’ quality of life, little research has focused on factors related to prisoners’ psychophysical quality of life (PQoL). The purpose of this study is to analyze the determinants of prisoners’ PQoL.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample consisted of 390 prisoners recruited from correctional facilities administered by the Warsaw District Inspectorate of Prisons. This study hypothesized that social support, coherence and self-efficacy would be positive determinants of PQoL and that depression, anxiety and anger would be its negative determinants. The collected data were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling.

Findings

The positive determinants of PQoL in prisoners are coherence, self-efficacy and social support. The negative determinant of PQoL is trait depression.

Originality/value

This study has revealed a list of factors significant for improving prisoners’ PQoL. Factors have also indicated which of the predictors measured are the most significant. The identified set of significant factors should be taken into account in social rehabilitation programs for prisoners as contributing to the preservation of life and health.

Details

International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-9200

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2018

Andreia de Castro Rodrigues, Glória Jólluskin and Isabel Silva

Developing interventions in challenging contexts should imply proper discussion from its theoretical framework to implementation details. The purpose of this paper is to examine…

Abstract

Purpose

Developing interventions in challenging contexts should imply proper discussion from its theoretical framework to implementation details. The purpose of this paper is to examine health promotion in prison settings as a mean of improving inmates’ rights concerning physical/emotional well-being, empowering inmates both to reclusion and re-entry challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

The development of a health promotion program, implemented in a prison setting with an initial group of 11 inmates, is described. The program design followed professionals’ and inmates’ inputs and previous similar interventions taking a peer education, community-based and participative approach.

Findings

Although some prison settings present major constraints to interventions’ development, the authors were able to perform the program and reinforced the idea that prisons can and should be health-promoting contexts. The authors found several specific needs that must be addressed when people are under custody, if we want imprisonment to be developmental instead of detrimental experiences.

Research limitations/implications

As a single-year-funded program, its replication and valid evaluation were enabled. Being external to the system also complicated the process agility, and conditioned inmates’ selection and compliance.

Practical implications

This paper promotes a best-practices forum in this issue; it addresses prison health agents’ training, who may assume an institutional essential role; it concerns inmates’ rehabilitation and ultimately, community health and safety.

Originality/value

The use of a peer education approach in these contexts is an innovative feature, since it has been developed in other institutional contexts and social groups. Nevertheless, the authors maintain the strong adequacy of this methodology to work with inmates and inside prison settings.

Details

International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4902

Keywords

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