Editorial

Citation

MacDonald, M. and Kane, R.G.a.D. (2014), "Editorial", International Journal of Prisoner Health, Vol. 10 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-03-2014-0007

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Prisoner Health, Volume 10, Issue 2

Welcome to the latest issue of the International Journal of Prisoner Health. As always, we are pleased to present a range of papers drawn from across the globe that examine various aspects of the prisoner health experience.

To begin, David Joubert, Kyle Archambault and Greg Brown examine the links between antecedents of maltreatment and institutional disciplinary practices with an intention to document the validity of the “cycle of abuse” hypothesis in a mixed sample of male and female Canadian inmates. Objectives of the study included, examining the underlying structure of self-reported childhood maltreatment in the sample, the associations between childhood maltreatment and the inmate's experience of discipline in the institution and investigating the moderating role of gender on the association between childhood maltreatment and institutional disciplinary measures. The authors note a number of interesting findings including that the majority of prisoners did not report experiences of maltreatment in childhood and women prisoners in the sample tended to report more experiences of childhood abuse than men. In terms of the main research question, the findings were consistent with previous theories that abusive behavior by caregivers is likely to be damaging to an individual's future interpersonal relationships. The authors conclude that findings suggest the presence of such developmental experiences increases the odds of conflict with the environment and subsequent punishment and propose that the term “cycle of coercion” may describe the relational patterns at play between staff and prisoners.

In our second paper, Gabriel J. Culbert describes the results of an exploratory study examining men's perceptions of and experience with HIV care and antiretroviral therapy (ART) during incarceration. The author describes how, in an effort to increase the number of HIV-infected persons in the USA, benefiting from treatment, the National Institutes of Health funded a multi-site “Seek, test, treat and retain” research initiative to improve the identification of untreated cases of HIV infection in criminal justice populations and improve access to medical care for persons leaving jails and prisons. From semi-structured, in-depth interviews undertaken with 42 HIV-positive male and male-to-female transgendered persons recently released from male correctional facilities in Illinois, USA, the author reports that over 60 percent of study participants reported missed doses or sustained treatment interruption because of incarceration. The author concludes that violence, stigma and the pursuit of social support interfere with access to and adherence to ART and that organizational changes are required to make prisoners feel safer, assist in the process of facilitating HIV status disclosure and help to protect the confidentiality of those prisoners receiving ART.

Kate Dolan and Ana Rodas report on a study commissioned to review the prevalence of alcohol and/or drug use problems among prisoners and the range and availability of supply, demand and harm reduction programs and services in prisons. Specifically, the review aimed to assess the use of supply reduction programs in prisons and information was sought on the results of searches conducted for drugs and urinalysis of prisoners. Data were obtained from a survey of prison authorities, which covered areas including drug detection dogs, urinalysis testing, metal detectors and searches (e.g. bag searches, pat-downs, etc.) and literature reviews. Additional data were requested on the number of searches and results from staff, visitors and inmates. To supplement this data, all prison departments were contacted to request information and departmental reports. The authors report that the two main measures employed in all jurisdictions were drug detection dogs and urinalysis. Both measures were employed extensively across the country and finds of drugs and drug use were relatively low. This results in two possible conclusions; either drug use was very low in prison or that it was well concealed from the authorities. A comparison of random testing with targeted testing of inmates, where the former yields fewer positive results shows drug use was likely to be low rather than well concealed. Previous research shows that urinalysis has a medium to high deterrent effect with data from the study indicating that targeted urinalysis revealed double the positive results of random testing for cannabis in three jurisdictions. The authors conclude by recommending the replacement of random urinalysis testing by targeted testing regimes, which would result in a more cost effective use of resources.

In our fourth paper, Joanna Gee and Betty Bertrand-Godfrey explore the importance of research into the psychological therapies in prison and consider evidence-based practice (EBP), which can be thought of as the current movement governing research in the psychological therapies in the UK. In providing a focussed critique of EBP, particularly within prisons, the authors make a case for consideration of alternative research methodologies and resultant methods in researching the psychological therapies in UK prisons. The authors argue that research within the prison setting should act not to promote interventions as such, but to provide an accessible body of knowledge for the psychological therapists working in prisons. The authors conclude that their paper promotes an argument for research that is appropriate to the setting and client group. They acknowledge that this position rejects EBP, in favor of qualitative, ethical and practitioner-based research, with the experience of the psychological therapist and prisoner considered vital in gaining in-depth knowledge of the experience of prison.

To conclude, S.A. Aida, H.H. Aili, K.S. Manveen, W.I.W. Salwina, K.P. Subash, C.G. Ng and A.Z. Muhsin report on a study that aimed to determine the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among juvenile detainees in the Malaysian Peninsula and to examine any association with socio-demographic and personal factors to improve understanding of mental health issues among this group. Research participants were recruited from five different prisons in the Malaysian Peninsular and interviewed by a psychiatrist using the MINI-Kid and FACES-IV. Relevant personal and family information was also collected. The results indicate that almost all of the detainees met the diagnostic criteria for one or more psychiatric disorder, with the most common being disruptive behavior disorder. A further significant finding was that the family factor most strongly associated with the presence of a psychiatric disorder was the number of siblings: most of the detainees with a psychiatric disorder came from a large family with four or more siblings. In addition, the authors report that close to 95 percent of the detainees participating had not completed schooling. The authors conclude, in line with previous research, that juvenile offenders are a psychiatrically morbid population who require interventions, including provision of psychiatric services, to reduce the likelihood of contact with the criminal justice system.

Morag MacDonald, Robert Greifinger and David Kane