The Prison Service’s increased emphasis on security and control has generated many obstacles for the effective delivery of psychiatric care to mentally disordered prisoners. Such prisoners do not have the necessary mental strength or coping mechanisms to deal with the ‘prison culture’ and this is particularly so for women, young people and ethnic minorities. Conflicting ideologies between the p...

When I read this, 1 could hear the words of so many officers, telling me 'we lock up 300 bodies on this wing', or I was reminded of the 'body book' signed at reception when the police handed over a prisoner. A first ever Thematic Inspection had been carried out on 'Suicide in Prison' in 1984. This had been inspired by three hangings within 12 months at HMP Swansea, and a 'lack of care' verdict ...

Prison Conditions and Recidivism We use a unique data set on post-release behavior of former Italian inmates to estimate the effect of prison conditions on recidivism. By combining different sources of data we exploit variation in prison conditions measured by: 1) the extent of overcrowding at the prison level, 2) the number of deaths in the facility of detention during an inmate’s stay and 3) ...

The notion of ‘black drug couriers’ in prison suggests that theories of penology, criminology and victimology should move beyond their preoccupation with the individual offender. This is (not just because of the plural sense of ‘couriers’ but more importantly) because some of what is conceptualized as punishment goes beyond individual offenders to affect whole groups and categories who could be...

BACKGROUND Except individual studies with varying prevalence rates, there are no national prevalence studies conducted in prison settings in Ethiopia. Appropriate estimates of the disease is essential to formulate health service plans most fitted for prisoners. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis was designed to pool the results of individual studies and estimate the prevalence ...

BACKGROUND Prisoners are at high risk of developing tuberculosis (TB), causing morbidity and mortality. Prison facilities encounter many challenges in TB screening procedures and TB control. This review explores screening practices for detection of TB and describes limitations of TB control in prison facilities worldwide. METHODS A systematic search of online databases (e.g., PubMed and Embas...

SETTING Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major health problems in prisons. OBJECTIVE This study was done to assess the prevalence and determinants of active tuberculosis in Ethiopian prisons. DESIGN A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2013 to December 2013 in 13 zonal prisons. All incarcerated inmates underwent TB symptom screening according to WHO criteria. From identified TB...

This paper analyses data from a recent study of ex-prisoners and prisoners in Gauteng Province, South Africa, to consider the moral economy established by hegemonic inmate culture in which sexual interactions are negotiated. It argues that while this system is based on outside norms of heterosexism, ruptures with these norms occur. Male prison populations are rearranged into gendered categories...

CONFLICT OF INTEREST NONE DECLARED. INTRODUCTION Through psychological support for prison guard's awareness about professional stress and burn-out, cognitive assessment of stress consequences, insight in coping strategies, as well as prevention of stress consequences is achieved. AIM Evaluation of psychoeducation effects on professional stress consequences within prison guards. METHOD In ...

BACKGROUND Smoking has long been considered part of prison culture and studies have shown a high prevalence of smoking within correctional facilities. METHODS A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire was administered to 173 male prisoners in the Chalkida prison, Greece. To assess current smoking habits, a hierarchical approach was adopted. The underlying conceptual framework included: (i)...