'Holistic' Community Punishment and Criminal Justice Interventions for Women

Calls for ‘holistic' responses to halt the increasing imprisonment of women are continually reiterated. Solutions are sought which aim to be both ‘gender-responsive' and ‘community-based'; however, the absence of meaningful definitions of ‘community' and ‘holistic' means that superficial responses are often put in place in response to failures of the system. Taking as an example one attempt to introduce a community-based service for women in Scotland, this article examines the challenges of implementing services that are located within ‘the community' and considers the consequences for feasible attempts to reduce the number of women in prison in Scotland and internationally

Offender management in and after prison: The end of ‘end to end’?

In 2013 a joint report by the Inspectorates of Probations and Prisons in England and Wales concluded that offender management in prisons was ‘not working’ and called for a fundamental review. This article considers why existing arrangements have failed and draws upon theory and research on resettlement, case management and desistance from crime, to define what a more effective system of ‘rehabilitative resettlement’ – both inside prison and ‘through the gate’ – might look like. It also comments on emerging proposals for radical change, including abandonment of the ‘end to end’ model of offender management by an outside probation officer and the development of ‘rehabilitative prisons’, in which more responsibility is placed on prisoners for managing their own rehabilitation, and a formal motivational role is created for large numbers of prison staff.10.1177/1748895816665435 Published in the Journal Criminology & Criminal Justice published by Sag

An evaluation of the CARAT initiative.

CARAT (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare) schemes have been operational in prisons throughout England and Wales for three and a half years, designed to increase the support available to drug-using prisoners both during custody and on release. Specifically the CARAT service has a remit to ‘bridge the gap’ between custody and the community. However, to date there have been few attempts to evaluate schemes or their impact on throughcare provision. This article presents some research findings which highlight a number of shortcomings with current throughcare provision, many of these stemming from ineffective partnership working between the agencies that share responsibility for this. A qualitative design was used, employing semi-structured interviews to ascertain the beliefs and experiences of drug users and those working with them on either side of the prison gate. The authors propose a radical re-structuring of the services in place to support drug-using offenders on release, with the aim of promoting continuity of care, facilitating effective joint working between agencies and securing a responsive and accountable service for users

Incontinence in women prisoners: an exploration of the issues

Aim. This paper is a report of a study exploring the extent and management of bladder and bowel problems in order to inform the provision and practice of prison nursing services and health care services in women's prisons. Background. Nurses and general practitioners provide primary care services inside prisons in the United Kingdom. While high levels of mental health and addiction problems in women prisoners are recognized, there has been less focus on physical problems. Incontinence symptoms are perceived as shameful and stigmatizing, and frequently help is not sought from healthcare professionals. Guidance for assessing prisoner health does not refer to bladder and bowel symptoms. Methods. Women prisoners in a large, closed prison in the United Kingdom were surveyed in 2005 using an anonymous self-completed questionnaire. Women resident in the detoxification unit and the hospital unit, absent from their unit at the time of questionnaire distribution or deemed vulnerable by prison health staff were excluded. Results. Questionnaires were offered to 283 women and 246 agreed to take it. Of those taken, 148 (60%) were returned. Twenty-four per cent indicated that they disclosed information about bladder and bowel problems in the survey not previously disclosed to anyone else. Forty-three per cent reported urinary symptoms. Five per cent reported nocturnal enuresis. The majority of women with symptoms reported using sanitary pads and toilet paper for containment of leakage. Conclusion. Prison nurses and nurse practitioners involved in reception into prison assessments should ask direct but sensitive questions about women's bladder and bowel symptoms