Expert views of peer-based interventions for prisoner health AbstractPurpose: Formalised support services for prisoners that rely on peer methods of delivery show promising health and social outcomes but there is also conjecture that negative effects, both at an individual and organisational level, can occur.Design/methodology/approach: Individuals with recognised professional expertise from various sectors (including ex-prisoners) were invited to contribute to an expert symposium to share their perceptions of the positive and negative effects of peer interventions in prison.Discussions and debate were audio recorded with the consent of all delegates and verbatim transcripts were analysed using Framework Analysis.Findings: According to the participants, peer interventions in the prison setting created both positive and negative impacts. It was clear from the evidence gathered that peer interventions in prisons can impact positively on health outcomes, but these effects were perceived to be more well-defined for peer deliverers. The notion that peer deliverers can be subjected to 'burnout' suggests that supervisory processes for peer workers need to be considered carefully in order to avoid the intervention from being counter-productive.Organizationally, one of the salient issues was the adverse effects that peer interventions cause to the security of the prison. Originality/value: To our knowledge, this is the first time an expert symposium has been conducted to specifically examine peer interventions in prison and to consider the effects, both positive and negative, of such schemes.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to critically discuss how the psy-sciences have been, and continue to be, typified by some critics, as colonizers and are credited with Imperialistic motivations. However, rarely are these critiques developed beyond a pejorative characterisation. Design/methodology/approach -This paper reviews the criticisms of psychiatry as colonial and outlines the tensions in taking different frames of reference in the mental health field, before going on to suggest theoretical and research perspectives arising from postcolonial theory that might advance these critical positions more coherently and the implications of doing so. Findings -This study suggests an engagement with humanities-based methods and fields such as postcolonial scholarship. Social implications -This argument is timely, especially given recent controversies over the publication of DSM5, the scaling up agenda for mental health in the Global South and increased attention to the agenda of Big Pharma. Originality/value -Postcolonial intersections with psy-science remains a relatively undeveloped area in the critical literature.

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