This up-to-date collection begins with an account and analysis of the role of psychologists in prisons in relation to research. Looks at the results of evidence based psychological approaches to working with prisoners First half of the book has its primary focus on psychological evaluation research Includes chapters on psychological research on suicide, bullying, life sentenced prisoners and staff sickness
Edited by the Head of Psychology for Her Majesty's Prison Serviceand the National Probation Service, this book gives an account ofthe work of psychologists in Her Majesty's prisons. Edited by the Head of Psychology for Her Majesty's Prison andProbation Services. Looks at the work of psychologists in prisons. Contributors look at the background, current practice andlikely future directions for each topic.
This book distils thirty years of research on the impacts of jail and prison environments. The research program began with evaluations of new jails that were created by the US Bureau of Prisons, which had a novel design intended to provide a non-traditional and safe environment for pre-trial inmates and documented the stunning success of these jails in reducing tension and violence. This book uses assessments of this new model as a basis for considering the nature of environment and behavior in correctional settings and more broadly in all human settings. It provides a critical review of research on jail environments and of specific issues critical to the way they are experienced and places them in historical and theoretical context. It presents a contextual model for the way environment influences the chance of violence.
Psychology in Prisons illustrates how a knowledge of psychological principles can lead to a better understanding of the prison environment and the problems that occur within it. The authors show how psychology can be used to increase understanding of prisoners and to deal with day-to-day problems in prison life. They focus on key problem areas such as sex offenders, violent criminals and the issue of AIDS. The book also explores the effects of the prison environment on staff and suggests means of reducing the levels of stress.
Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Sociology - Methodology and Methods, grade: 1,2, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, language: English, abstract: In the 1970s and '80s, the behavioral researcher and psychologist Prof. Philip Zimbardo tested the effects of extraordinary situations on human subjects. Zimbardo was less concerned with demonstrating the personal situations, developments and psychological case studies of individuals, and rather was searching for universal relationships between external influences and the behavior of the subject. Such influences are to be observed in situations of extreme duress, as illustrated by those in prisons. After World War II there were a multitude of reports from prisoners about their personal experiences, the influences and effects of their respective time in prison. Zimbardo now wanted to observe the effects of prison on a universal level. He thus clearly separated the personal psyche of the individual from the factors that would encroach from the "outside", making them equal to prisoners. The core question Zimbardo was experimenting with was the question of the "good" and "evil" in humans. Would good or evil triumph in individuals who were subjected to extreme stress and were required to resort to violence? What influence does the environment have on this decision? Who is actually responsible for reporting extraordinary violence in prisons? Is it the special characters and individuals gathered within the prison, or must this phenomenon be ascribed to the imposed prison environment?
In the past 30 years, the population of prisoners in the United States has expanded almost 5-fold, correctional facilities are increasingly overcrowded, and more of the country's disadvantaged populations—racial minorities, women, people with mental illness, and people with communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and tuberculosis—are under correctional supervision. Because prisoners face restrictions on liberty and autonomy, have limited privacy, and often receive inadequate health care, they require specific protections when involved in research, particularly in today's correctional settings. Given these issues, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Human Research Protections commissioned the Institute of Medicine to review the ethical considerations regarding research involving prisoners. The resulting analysis contained in this book, Ethical Considerations for Research Involving Prisoners, emphasizes five broad actions to provide prisoners involved in research with critically important protections: • expand the definition of "prisoner"; • ensure universally and consistently applied standards of protection; • shift from a category-based to a risk-benefit approach to research review; • update the ethical framework to include collaborative responsibility; and • enhance systematic oversight of research involving prisoners.
As the number of prisoners in the UK, USA and elsewhere continues to rise, so have concerns risen about the damaging short term and long term effects this has on prisoners. This book brings together a group of leading authorities in this field, both academics and practitioners, to address the complex issues this has raised, to assess the implications and results of research in this field, and to suggest ways of mitigating the often devastating personal and psychological consequences of imprisonment.
Since the 1970s, the corrections system has experienced exponential growth. Over the past four decades, the number of inmates held in US prisons and jails has quadrupled. This massive growth is associated with a number of different issues and challenges within prisons and jails, including overcrowding; gang activity and misconduct; a shift away from rehabilitation and programming; expanded use of solitary confinement; inmates’ human rights; criticisms of health care; and massive, publicly funded budgets. Many states now spend more on corrections than on higher education. This book explores these issues in depth. It takes current topics in institutional corrections and explores the main issues surrounding each. Themes include institutional corrections, prison behavior (including gangs and misconduct), solitary confinement, prison programming, and rehabilitation.
Over the past four decades, the rate of incarceration in the United States has skyrocketed to unprecedented heights, both historically and in comparison to that of other developed nations. At far higher rates than the general population, those in or entering U.S. jails and prisons are prone to many health problems. This is a problem not just for them, but also for the communities from which they come and to which, in nearly all cases, they will return. Health and Incarceration is the summary of a workshop jointly sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences(NAS) Committee on Law and Justice and the Institute of Medicine(IOM) Board on Health and Select Populations in December 2012. Academics, practitioners, state officials, and nongovernmental organization representatives from the fields of healthcare, prisoner advocacy, and corrections reviewed what is known about these health issues and what appear to be the best opportunities to improve healthcare for those who are now or will be incarcerated. The workshop was designed as a roundtable with brief presentations from 16 experts and time for group discussion. Health and Incarceration reviews what is known about the health of incarcerated individuals, the healthcare they receive, and effects of incarceration on public health. This report identifies opportunities to improve healthcare for these populations and provides a platform for visions of how the world of incarceration health can be a better place.
"This book brings together thirty papers by psychologists, each of which in different ways attempts to increase our understanding of the problems associated with imprisonment. It is intended as a resource for psychologists, but will also be of value both to those who work in prisons and the general reader wishing to learn about this application of the discipline. Seven of the studies are theoretical in nature ...The remaining twenty-three papers are by psychologists employed within the Prison Service. Most of these reports have been circulated internally...They cover three areas; dealing with the selection and training of staff, the treatment of inmates, and the kind of research on which psychologists base their advice to management."--P. [4] of cover.
