A Theoretical Framework for Goal‐directed Care within the Prison System

Abstract

A theoretical framework for goal-directed care within the prison system Bulten, E.; Vissers, A.; Oei, T.I. Published in: Mental Health Review Journal Publication date: 2008 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA):Bulten, E., Vissers, A., & Oei, T. I. (2008). A theoretical framework for goal-directed care within the prison system. Mental Health Review Journal, 13(3), 40-50. General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.-Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research -You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain -You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. are of importance in defining the availability, the aims and the quality of care and treatment. This group of stakeholders consists of prisoners, the providers of care, the prison system, the government and society. As a consequence, the goals involved in care are divergent. There is no sound theoretical framework comprised of welldefined concepts and that also accounts for the complexity of care in prison.Although prevention and the transfer of inmates to more specialized facilities are necessary, the focus in this article is on describing the processes involved in seeking and providing care within the prison system. We discuss a broad theory and its conceptual framework, in which we differentiate between prisoners with emotional suffering versus those without, the need for care from an objective point of view as opposed to a subjective one, need for care related to mental health problems versus need for care related to limiting recidivism, and the process of care seeking under the influence of approach in contrast to avoidance factors. The equivalency principle should have a substantial impact on the processes involved in this type of mental health care.In the Netherlands, there is great interest in the issue of mental health care during detention. Politicians, the government and professionals all contribute to this increasing interest. The quality of care is also an issue, especially in regard to the standards of equivalence, which impose similar services in both correctional and non correctional settings. In addition, there is a partly contradicting tendency toward being tougher on crime, tougher in sentencing and being more strict during detention.

Mental Health in Prison: Integrating the Perspectives of Prison Staff

“…Within the penitentiary system, for instance, the issue of health is complicated, as prison is an environment characterised by order, discipline, and control rather than by care and cure [ 4 ]. Indeed, prison is mostly considered as a container of deviance, discomfort, pathologies, and addictions, and studies have demonstrated that, inside prisons, mental health is more vulnerable [ 5 , 6 ] and psychiatric pathologies are more prevalent [ 6 , 7 , 8 ] than in free society. The REDiME study [ 9 ] revealed that 58.7% of Italian prisoners currently experience psychiatric disorders, compared to only 8.7% of participants in a comparison group from the general population.…”

“…Offenders with mental illnesses have special needs that are not compatible with detention and the prison system [ 7 ]. Therefore, the inmate population and prison workers have had to live with various forms of psychological distress in a context that does not guarantee adequate space, training, medical/nursing resources, or psychological personnel to manage the new compliance system.…”