Doing Harder Time? The Experiences of an Ageing Male Prison Population in England and Wales

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 874-875
Keyword(s):  
Prison Population ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Ageing Male

scholarly journals No Place for Old Men? Meeting the Needs of an Ageing Male Prison Population in England and Wales

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Louise Ridley
Keyword(s):  
Prison Population ◽  
Western World ◽  
National Strategy ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Demographic Group ◽  
Older Prisoners ◽  
Physical Environments ◽  
Ageing Male ◽  
Old Men

Recent years have witnessed significant increase in numbers of older men imprisoned in England and Wales; a phenomenon experienced across the western world. Those aged fifty and over represent the fastest-growing demographic group in prison in England and Wales. This article summaries explanations for and implications of this increase and the characteristics, needs and lived experiences of this population, before critically reflecting on current policy and practice responses; and how responses highlight definitional and policy ambiguities around older prisoners. The article discusses a multi-agency initiative developed at one prison in northern England that recognised the uniqueness of older prisoners, modified regimes and changed physical environments. Impact is benchmarked against Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons four tests of a healthy prison, followed by discussion of findings and implications for policy and practice. The article argues for expanded collaboration to better manage challenges posed by older prisoners, supported by a national strategy.

Prison population projections, 2006-2013: England and Wales

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nisha de Silva ◽  
Paul Cowell ◽  
Terence Chow ◽  
Paul Worthington
Keyword(s):  
Prison Population ◽  
Population Projections ◽  
England And Wales

scholarly journals Dementia and mild cognitive impairment in prisoners aged over 50 years in England and Wales: a mixed-methods study

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (27) ◽  
pp. 1-116
Author(s):  
Katrina Forsyth ◽  
Leanne Heathcote ◽  
Jane Senior ◽  
Baber Malik ◽  
Rachel Meacock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Prevalence Rate ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Care Pathway ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Health And Social Care

Background People aged ≥ 50 years constitute the fastest-growing group in the prison population of England and Wales. This population has complex health and social care needs. There is currently no national strategy to guide the development of the many-faceted services required for this vulnerable population; therefore, prisons are responding to the issue with a range of local initiatives that are untested and often susceptible to failure if they are not fully embedded in and securely funded as part of commissioned services. Objectives The objectives were to establish the prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in prisoners in England and Wales and their health and social care needs; validate the six-item cognitive impairment test for routine use in prisons to aid early and consistent identification of older prisoners with possible dementia or mild cognitive impairment; identify gaps in current service provision; understand the first-hand experiences of prisoners living with dementia and mild cognitive impairment; develop a care pathway for prisoners with dementia and mild cognitive impairment; develop dementia and mild cognitive impairment training packages for staff and prisoners; and produce health economic costings for the care pathway and training packages. Design This was a mixed-methods study. Setting The study setting was prisons in England and Wales. Participants Prisoners aged ≥ 50 years and multiagency staff working in prison discipline and health and social care services took part. Results Quantitative research estimated that the prevalence rate of suspected dementia and mild cognitive impairment in the prison population of England and Wales is 8%. This equates to 1090 individuals. Only two people (3%) in our sample had a relevant diagnosis in their health-care notes, suggesting current under-recognition of these conditions. The prevalence rate in prisons was approximately two times higher among individuals aged 60–69 years and four times higher among those aged ≥ 70 years than among those in the same age groups living in the community. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment screening test was found to be more effective than the six-item cognitive impairment test assessment in the older prisoner population. Qualitative research determined that staff and prisoners lacked training in knowledge and awareness of dementia and mild cognitive impairment, and this leads to problematic behaviour being viewed as a disciplinary issue rather than a health issue. Local initiatives to improve the lives of prisoners with dementia and mild cognitive impairment are often disadvantaged by not being part of commissioned services, making them difficult to sustain. Multidisciplinary working is hampered by agencies continuing to work in silos, with inadequate communication across professional boundaries. A step-by-step care pathway for prisoners with dementia and mild cognitive impairment was developed, and two tiers of training materials were produced for staff and prisoners. Limitations Our prevalence rate was based on the results of a standardised assessment tool, rather than on clinical diagnosis by a mental health professional, and therefore it may represent an overestimation. Furthermore, we were unable to distinguish subcategories of dementia. We were also unable to distinguish between a likely diagnosis of dementia and other conditions presenting with mild cognitive impairment, including learning disability, severe depression and hearing impairment. Questionnaires regarding current service provision were collected over an extended period of time, so they do not reflect a ‘snapshot’ of service provision at a particular point. Conclusions We hypothesise that implementing the step-by-step care pathway and the training resources developed in this study will improve the care of older prisoners with dementia and mild cognitive impairment. Future work The care pathway and training materials should be evaluated in situ. Alternatives to prison for those with dementia or mild cognitive impairment should be developed and evaluated. Funding This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research programme and will be published in full in Health Services and Delivery Research; Vol. 8, No. 27. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

scholarly journals ‘Trying to make it matter’: The challenges of assimilating a resettlement culture into a ‘local’ prison

2021 ◽  
pp. 174889582110374
Author(s):  
Matthew Cracknell
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Top Down ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Wide Scale ◽  
Security Concerns

As part of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, 70 ‘local’ prisons in England and Wales were re-designated as resettlement prisons, in order to provide additional through-the-gate support to individuals serving short sentences. Drawing on staff and prisoner interviews in one case study resettlement prison, this article considers what challenges were involved with implementing a resettlement culture in a local prison. Findings first outline factors inhibiting the resettlement status of the prison; these include a tension between attempts to implement a more expansive resettlement remit into the prison, while also fulfilling more long-standing core institutional duties; the size and churn of the prison population; wide-scale apathy caused by change fatigue; and government austerity policies which caused significant difficulties in the day-to-day staffing of the prison. This article then turns to practitioner responses to the re-designation, finding that practitioners interpreted resettlement in two limited ways: top-down managerial attempts to instil a wider resettlement culture into the prison, and resistance from prison officers who felt unwilling or unable to expand their roles beyond custodial and security concerns. This article concludes by outlining how this set of inter-related barriers frustrated staff and prisoners alike, eroding a sense of hope and purpose and impeding true cultural change.

The landscape of maternal imprisonment: caregiving and family life

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Natalie Booth
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Parental Responsibility ◽  
Female Prisoner ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Daily Care

This chapter provides an overview of maternal imprisonment. The prison population in England and Wales is twice as large as it was in 1993. On any one day, just under 4,000 women are detained in prisons serving England and Wales; meanwhile, 8,000 women entered prison in 2017. When applying a family-centred lens to analyse these trends, a critical concern is the significant repercussions that this brings to the whole family because as the female prisoner population grows, so does the number of children separated from their mothers requiring replacement caregivers. However, being in prison does not remove a mother's willingness to continue mothering or automatically strip her of her legal parental responsibility in England and Wales. Instead, it is by virtue of the detainment that being imprisoned significantly alters, if not compromises, many of the roles and practices that a mother had previously undertaken. Most notably, this includes the daily care of children. The chapter then looks at the reallocation of caregiving following maternal imprisonment.

Controlling measures

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat Carlen
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Women's Prisons ◽  
Women In Prison ◽  
Controlling Measures ◽  
Policy Discourses

This article compares the ways in which English and Canadian campaigning and reforming discourses aiming to reduce either the numbers of women in prison or the damage done by repressive regimes in the women's prisons have been incorporated via new vocabularies into new policy discourses. It is argued that, in England and Wales, these newly created official discourses on the meaning of women's crime will result both in the increased (anti)social control of women and a rise in the female prison population.

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