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21 – 30 of over 3000
Article
Publication date: 7 November 2016

Tammi Walker, Jenny Shaw, Lea Hamilton, Clive Turpin, Catherine Reid and Kathryn Abel

The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of prison staff working with imprisoned women who self-harm in English prisons. In this small-scale study, 14 prison staff…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of prison staff working with imprisoned women who self-harm in English prisons. In this small-scale study, 14 prison staff in three English prisons were interviewed to examine the strategies currently used by them to support imprisoned women who self-harm.

Design/methodology/approach

Thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) was used to identify three key themes: “developing a relationship”, “self-help strategies” and “relational interventions”.

Findings

Many staff expressed some dissatisfaction in the techniques available to support the women, and felt their utility can be restricted by the prison regime.

Research limitations/implications

This study suggests that there is currently a deficit in the provision of training and support for prison staff, who are expected to fulfil a dual role as both custodian and carer of imprisoned women. Further research into prison staff’s perception of the training currently available could highlight gaps between current theory and practice in the management of self-harm and thus indicate content for future training programmes. Research exploring the impact of working with imprisoned women who self-harm is suggested to identify strategies for supporting staff. It must be acknowledged that this is a small-scale qualitative study and the findings are from only three prisons and may not apply to staff in other settings.

Originality/value

Currently few studies have focussed on the perspective of prison staff. This study is one of very few studies which focusses on the techniques and resources available to support the women, from the perspective of the prison staff.

Details

Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. 6 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2009-3829

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 December 2015

Thomas Board, Salma Ali and Annie Bartlett

– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a new Intellectual Disability (ID) screening service within a women’s prison in England.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a new Intellectual Disability (ID) screening service within a women’s prison in England.

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis of prisoner records was carried out to establish characteristics of women entering the prison, rates of screening completion and time intervals for all stages of the assessment pathway.

Findings

In total 198 women were received into prison and underwent 202 ID screens. Nine out of ten women completed a screen, almost all on arrival or very soon afterwards. There were 23 referrals for secondary assessment but only four were completed. Most of the women identified for additional screening left the prison before this could be achieved.

Originality/value

This evaluation is the first to show that preliminary screening for ID is feasible in prison. This screening alone is useful for prisons to make the kind of reasonable adjustment required of public bodies by the Equality Act. However, its value is constrained unless resources are also dedicated to the kind of additional screening which might lead to definitive diagnosis and care planning for intellectual disability. This model of assessment would be of considerable value in establishing prisoners at risk by virtue of different levels of intellectual disability and could be used to provide more reliable and routine estimates of prevalence contributing to overall better service planning.

Details

International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-9200

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 November 2012

Claire de Motte, Di Bailey and James Ward

The aims of this paper are to determine the state of visiting for women in the English prison system and to explore the relationship between women's mental health and visits in…

1084

Abstract

Purpose

The aims of this paper are to determine the state of visiting for women in the English prison system and to explore the relationship between women's mental health and visits in prison.

Design/methodology/approach

For the purpose of this paper the authors conducted a review of the literature. All literature published from 1983 onwards was included to coincide with the introduction of Pat Carlen's (1983) campaigning group Women in Prison (WIP). The review focused on all literature from England and Wales to reflect the National Criminal Justice System and used an inclusion criteria to achieve this.

Findings

The review revealed key themes including visit rejection, the importance of visits for maintaining identity and the contradicting emotions that women in prison experience when visited.

Originality/value

Social relationships and family ties are protective factors for prisoners' mental wellbeing, yet the number and frequency of visits to offenders in custody has declined. The potential role for prison visiting schemes to improve the mental wellbeing of women in custody is explored, including the implications for the education and training of staff and visitors involved in the visiting process.

Details

The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-6228

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2009

Max Rutherford

The strongest international recognition of the importance of women’s health in prisons and the urgentneed for radical change was highlighted of a WHO Conference held recently in…

140

Abstract

The strongest international recognition of the importance of women’s health in prisons and the urgent need for radical change was highlighted of a WHO Conference held recently in Kiev, Ukraine.

Details

International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-9200

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2015

Nicole LeBlanc, Jennifer M. Kilty and Sylvie Frigon

The purpose of this paper is to examine the fusion of psy-correctional discourse with the dominant risk logic to consider the implication this nexus can have on how self-injurious…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the fusion of psy-correctional discourse with the dominant risk logic to consider the implication this nexus can have on how self-injurious behaviour committed by women in prison is interpreted and responded to by the Correctional Service Canada (CSC).

Design/methodology/approach

The central focus of the study is an in-depth case analysis of the carceral death of Ashley Smith, a 19-year-old woman who committed suicide in her segregation cell in 2007 after enduring four years of excessively punitive treatment aimed at controlling her self-injurious behaviour.

Findings

Findings illustrate how the fusion of these logics creates a kind of “therapeutic-risk cloak” that reframes the behaviour as “abnormal” and “risky”, which masks the punitivity of strip search and segregation interventions in the name of safety, security and treatment.

Originality/value

Given that correctional officials knowingly failed to intervene when Smith tied the fatal ligature around her neck, a federal inquiry judged her death to be a homicide. By attempting to unveil the “therapeutic-risk cloak” the authors hope to challenge the underlying logic of CSC’s governance and management framework, which not only denies the oppressive gendered carceral reality that is linked to self-injurious behaviour amongst women prisoners, but is also used to justify intervention responses that exacerbate the very behaviour this framework aims to control. Until systemic transformation is achieved that eradicates CSC’s contradictory governance framework, there is no doubt that the authors will continue to see similar preventable deaths take place in prison.

Details

International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-9200

Keywords

Abstract

Around 7% of the female prison population are pregnant (Albertson, O'Keeffe, Lessing-Turner, Burke & Renfrew, 2014; Kennedy, Marshall, Parkinson, Delap, & Abbott, 2016; Prison Reform Trust, 2019). However, although recent years have witnessed growing academic interest in relation to mothering and imprisonment, limited attention has been paid to exploring the experiences of pregnancy for women serving a custodial sentence. Combining health and criminological research, this chapter offers a unique perspective of women's accounts of pregnancy and imprisonment, highlighting the specific challenges faced by pregnant women in negotiating the prison environment, whilst also illustrating the adaptive strategies adopted to cope with pregnancy and new motherhood in the context of imprisonment.

Details

Mothering from the Inside
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-344-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2006

Ralf Jürgens

Since the early 1990s, various countries have introduced HIV prevention programmes in prisons. Such programmes include education on HIV/AIDS, HCV and on drug use for prisoners and…

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, various countries have introduced HIV prevention programmes in prisons. Such programmes include education on HIV/AIDS, HCV and on drug use for prisoners and for staff, voluntary testing and counselling, the distribution of condoms, bleach, and needles and syringes, and substitution therapy for injecting drug users. Other forms of drug‐dependence treatment, as well as drug demand reduction and drug supply reduction measures may also be relevant to managing HIV/AIDS and HCV in prisons, and may facilitate HIV prevention measures ‐ or have unintended negative consequences for such measures. Prison systems in a growing number of countries are implementing such programmes. However, many of them are small in scale and restricted to a few prisons. Provision of care and treatment for people living with HIV or AIDS has become a priority worldwide, and it is considered to be a basic human right. This includes the provision of antiretroviral therapy (ARV) in the context of comprehensive HIV/AIDS care. Providing access to ARV for those in need in the context of correctional facilities is a challenge, but it is necessary and feasible. Studies have documented that, when provided with care and access to medications, prisoners respond well to ARV. Part 3 of the select annotated bibliography on HIV/AIDS and HCV in prisons contains selected “essential” articles and reports that provide information about (1) substitution treatment and other forms of drug‐dependence treatment; (2) other drug demand and drug supply reduction measures; and (3) care, treatment, and support for prisoners living with HIVor AIDS and/or HCV. Each section also contains a brief review of the evidence, based on recent work undertaken by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Book part
Publication date: 29 March 2022

Prarthana Rao, Min Jee Yamada Park and Samantha Jeffries

To date, intersectional feminist criminological enquiry concerned with exploring junctions of gender and ethnicity amongst incarcerated women, has mainly come from studies…

Abstract

To date, intersectional feminist criminological enquiry concerned with exploring junctions of gender and ethnicity amongst incarcerated women, has mainly come from studies undertaken in western nations. In this chapter, we present findings from research undertaken in Thailand that explored incarcerated ethnic minority women’s backgrounds, situational contexts surrounding their criminalization and criminal justice system experiences, with particular attention paid to women’s time in prison. Our purpose was to examine how gender and ethnicity intersected, impacting the lived experiences of criminalized ethnic minority women before and during their incarceration. Findings revealed the ways in which these women are marginalized inside and outside prison walls. On the outside, the women struggled with patriarchal systems of power, both within and beyond their communities. They were subjugated as women and by discourses of ethnic othering. Under-education, poverty, living with state, community, familial and intimate partner violence, trauma, and other adversity were key aspects of the women’s pre-prison lives and created the contexts from which they came into conflict with the law. The women faced challenges in accessing justice and, once imprisoned, gender and ethnicity intersected in several domains, to impact their carceral experiences.

Details

Gender, Criminalization, Imprisonment and Human Rights in Southeast Asia
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-287-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2019

Diana M. Palma and Jennifer Parr

The imprisoned population is increasing worldwide and is overrepresented in the HIV epidemic. The purpose of this paper is to explore the HIV vulnerability of female Filipinos who…

Abstract

Purpose

The imprisoned population is increasing worldwide and is overrepresented in the HIV epidemic. The purpose of this paper is to explore the HIV vulnerability of female Filipinos who are pre-trial prisoners, as the specific needs of imprisoned women are poorly understood and fewer resources are granted to pre-trial detainees, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Design/methodology/approach

This study was based on a Qualitative Descriptive Design. In total, 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with prisoners and NGO directors. Data were analysed through Framework Analysis, using the individual, social and community categories of the Modified Socio-Ecological Model.

Findings

Results from this study suggest that the prison environment and management practices maximise the HIV vulnerability in the sample. This vulnerability is shaped by low HIV knowledge, combined with the existence of multiple social vulnerabilities prior to incarceration.

Social implications

HIV care in Filipino prisons needs urgent attention from government and international organisations, as it is a major public health and human rights concern. International goals of ending the epidemic by 2030 cannot be reached if efforts are not translated into action within this setting.

Originality/value

In the Philippines, few studies have addressed this issue and little is known about the conditions of Filipino prisons. This paper aims to fill a gap in literature regarding the vulnerability of imprisoned women in LMICs, which is even more limited in examining pre-trial detention.

Details

International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-9200

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 March 2022

Andrew M. Jefferson

In this chapter, we examine historical and contemporary debates about the position and situation of women in Myanmar (and to a lesser extent gender and sexual minorities)…

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine historical and contemporary debates about the position and situation of women in Myanmar (and to a lesser extent gender and sexual minorities). Specific reference is made to the patriarchal character of the military coup of February 1, 2021, and the emergent forms of feminist resistance that turned social norms inside out in protest against lethal repression. The way women, as well as sexual and gender minorities, are unequally positioned and face structural and social discrimination in society serves to contextualize our presentation of the findings of a collaborative case-study conducted in 2018 on issues pertaining to gender and imprisonment in Myanmar, based mainly on interviews with former prisoners in three research sites. The aim was to generate field-based knowledge about the carceral experiences of women and LGBTQIA+ persons in Myanmar – focusing on their needs and vulnerabilities, their capacities and rights, their relationships and identities, and their modes of survival as they encounter penal regimes. Findings are summarized focusing on former prisoners’ experiences of legal bias; perspectives on encounters with the criminal justice system; the inadequacy of health provision (posed as lethal neglect); and the way certain behaviors and identities are criminalized. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the degree to which there might still be space for critical scholarship in the post-coup world and poses some questions for future research.

Details

Gender, Criminalization, Imprisonment and Human Rights in Southeast Asia
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-287-5

Keywords

21 – 30 of over 3000