The Keepers: Returning Citizens’ Experiences With Prison Staff Misconduct

Correctional staff play a major role in the incarceration experience for millions of U.S. adults each year. While much research has addressed misconduct perpetrated by incarcerated persons, less has systematically addressed rule-violating behavior by correctional staff and how such conduct is perceived by formerly incarcerated individuals. Using qualitative data gathered from 38 interviews with men and women recently released from prison, we examine their experiences with prison staff misconduct. Respondents shared observations of staff misconduct related to medical neglect, violence, and contraband, but experiences differed for men and women, raising concerns regarding conditions of confinement. We caution that such conduct has the potential to undermine the legitimacy of correctional authority in prison settings, which is troubling because heightened legitimacy is an important aspect of legal socialization that helps to reduce offending. Research and policy development on the frequency and consequences of prison staff misconduct is warranted.

Medical neglect in Ontario: Implications for health care provision

Objectives This study explores child welfare investigations for medical neglect in Ontario, Canada, focusing on household, family and child characteristics of such investigations and factors associated with substantiated victimization. Methods This analysis used data from the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2018. Bivariate analyses compared medical neglect with other neglect investigations to create a profile of medical neglect investigations in Ontario, and a binary logistic regression determined which case characteristics were associated with substantiation of medical neglect. Results Compared with other neglect investigations, medical neglect investigations were more likely to involve children less than 1 year old and caregivers under 21 years old, households that had run out of money in the past 6 months for basic necessities, primary caregivers with few social supports, mental health issues or drug/solvent abuse concerns, and children with at least one functioning concern. Medical neglect investigations in which the primary caregiver had few social supports were almost four times more likely to be substantiated (OR=3.698, P<0.05). Conclusions While the public’s perception of medical neglect tends to focus on parental refusal of treatment due to philosophical/religious beliefs, this Ontario sample indicates that medical neglect is often driven by financial constraints and a lack of social support. Implications for health care providers within a universal health care system are discussed.

Early Childhood Neglect Among 3- to 6-Year-Old Children in China: A Meta-Analysis

Background: This review aims to estimate the prevalence of the neglect of 3- to 6-year-old children in China. Method: We systematically searched both English- (Web of Science, PsychINFO, PubMed, and Cochrane Library) and Chinese-language databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Weipu, and Biomedical Database). We extracted data related to the prevalence of early childhood neglect and its subtypes and pooled it using random effects models. Findings: We included 21 eligible studies, with a total of 35,175 3- to 6-year-old children, in the analyses. The pooled neglect prevalence was 32.1% at a 95% confidence interval (95% CI [27.0%, 37.2%]). The prevalence of physical, emotional, educational, security, and medical neglect was 15.2% (95% CI [11.9%, 18.5%]), 15.2% (95% CI [10.7%, 19.6%]), 10.4% (95% CI [7.4%, 13.4%]), 13.8% (95% CI [9.9%, 17.8%]), and 11.5% (95% CI [8.1%, 14.9%]), respectively. No gender or location differences were found to affect early childhood neglect or its subtypes. Interpretation: Our results revealed a high prevalence of early childhood neglect—including all its subtypes—among 3- to 6-year-old children in China. Improved child policies and prevention programs tailored to preschool children are needed to protect the well-being of younger children.

Race, Gender, and the Prison Industrial Complex

Despite the transnational growth of the prison industrial complex and the rapid expansion of the carceral state in the United States and beyond, violence against women in prisons has remained largely invisible. Reports from people inside prisons, amplified by activists on the outside and international human rights organizations documenting prison conditions, highlight rampant violations of human rights behind walls. The gendered nature of racism, which fuels the growth of the prison industrial complex, results in experiences of violence, including medical neglect, sexual abuse, lack of reproductive control, loss of parental rights, and the devastating effects of isolation, that manifest in particular ways in women’s prisons. Advocates who are challenging conditions inside increasingly are connecting with activists across the globe and organizing their efforts to resist this violence in concert with a broader resistance to carcerality overall.