Mental health services in Nigerian prisons: Lessons from a four-year review and the literature

Olagunju, Andrew T; Oluwaniyi, Stephen O; Fadipe, Babatunde; Ogunnubi, Oluseun Peter; Oni, Osunwale Dahunsi; Aina, Olatunji F.; Chaimowitz, Gary

doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2018.03.004

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…All included studies except one were conducted in well-resourced countries with advanced forensic mental health and criminal justice systems 13 , 54 , 55 . While the scanty research from less-resourced countries in this review is concerning, it seems to reflect the rudimentary nature of forensic psychiatric practice in these developing countries due to the lack of dedicated mental health legislations, poor judicial practices, and limited mental health resources 11 , 54 . For instance, only 59% of the world’s population live in a country where dedicated mental health legislation exists, and this is particularly so in several developing countries 11 , 54 , 55 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…While the scanty research from less-resourced countries in this review is concerning, it seems to reflect the rudimentary nature of forensic psychiatric practice in these developing countries due to the lack of dedicated mental health legislations, poor judicial practices, and limited mental health resources 11 , 54 . For instance, only 59% of the world’s population live in a country where dedicated mental health legislation exists, and this is particularly so in several developing countries 11 , 54 , 55 . The age span of the included studies also speaks to the fact that absconsion is a long-standing problem in forensic psychiatric practice, 26 and revisits the need for novel efforts to advance the assessment, risk analysis, and management of absconsion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Forensic psychiatric services are designed to provide care to patients with mental illnesses at the interface of the criminal justice system 9 . While recovery and community reintegration of patients are important goals of forensic mental health services, safeguarding the public from harm posed by forensic patients remains a core objective of forensic psychiatry 9–13 . Implicitly, forensic psychiatric services are expected to maintain a “secure” therapeutic milieu for patients on admission or out-patients with community access, and be “absconsion-proof” while mitigating the risk posed by such patients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Absconsion in forensic psychiatric services: a systematic review of literature

et al. 2020

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While serious concerns are often raised when patients abscond or leave unauthorized from psychiatric services, there is limited knowledge about absconsion in forensic psychiatric services. Following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guideline, we searched Medline/PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science through May 2020 for eligible reports on absconsion in forensic patients with no language limits. The search string combined terms for absconsion, forensic patients, and psychiatry in various permutations. This was supplemented by snowball searching for additional studies. Of the 565 articles screened, 25 eligible studies, including two interventional, seven cross-sectional, and 16 case-controlled studies spanning five decades were included. Absconsion and re-absconsion rates ranged from 0.2% to 54.4% and 15% to 71%, respectively, albeit higher rates trended with less secure psychiatric units. Previous absconsion, aggression, substance use, high Historical Clinical Risk Management-20 score, anti-sociality, psychiatric symptoms, sexual offending, and poor treatment adherence were the factors reported with a degree of predictive value for absconsion. However, the construct of absconsion was heterogeneous in the included studies and the quality of evidence on the predictors of absconsion was limited. Serious risky behaviors including re-offending, violence, self-harm, suicide, rape, and manslaughter were perpetrated by patients during unauthorized leave. Nevertheless, the rates of re-offending were generally low in the included studies (highest recidivism rate = 0.11). There is need for standardized assessment and documentation of absconsion to improve risk analysis and management. Furthermore, it is necessary to develop a structured guideline for defining absconsion, and to create a protocol that operationalizes all absconsion-related behaviors/events to promote reliable assessment and comparative analysis in future studies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Absconsion in forensic psychiatric services: a systematic review of literature

et al. 2020

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“…Huge unmet need, in terms of mental health services for prisoners, was reported in a Nigerian study [54]. Hence, this study can help different stakeholders such as the police, the health sector, and other governmental and non-governmental organizations in designing and implementing strategies to reduce alcohol-related problems including criminality and meet the needs of prisoners through evidence-based interventions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Alcohol use disorder among prisoners in Debre Berhan prison, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Haile

Kebede

Limenhe

et al. 2020

Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy

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Background: Several studies reported that history of alcohol use among prisoners is higher than the prevalence in the general population. Criminality is found to be associated with alcohol use disorder (AUD) in previous studies. In Ethiopia, there is limited information on the prevalence and associated factors of AUD among prisoners. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of AUD among prisoners of Debre Berhan Prison. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess history of AUD among prisoners at Debre Berhan Prison, before imprisonment. We selected 347 prisoners with a systematic sampling technique and interviewed using Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) to screen for AUD in May 2017. Data entry was done using Epi-Data version 3.1 software, and bivariate and multivariate analyses were done using Stata version 13 software. Crude and adjusted odds ratios, with 95% confidence intervals and p-values are reported. Results: About six out of ten prisoners (59.1%) had AUD before imprisonment. Factors associated with increased odds of AUD were perception that the current offence is related to using substances (AOR = 4.2; 95% CI = 2.3, 7.8), and family history of substance use (AOR = 8.7; 95% CI = 1.7, 44.9). Being married had lower odds of AUD compared to the unmarried (AOR = 0.5; 95% CI = 0.2, 0.9). Conclusion: We found that the prevalence of AUD 1 year before imprisonment in this population is high. AUD is found to be associated with a family history of substance use and perception that the current offence is related to using a substance. We recommend community-based study with different kind of study designs to see the relationship between AUD and crime for planning interventions.

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“…where the prevalence is 5.8% (Gureje et al, 2006). Substance abuse, depression, and anxiety disorders are common mental health conditions among inmates in Nigeria (Armiya'u et al, 2013;Adjorlolo et al, 2016;Olagunju et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudinal Disposition of Correctional Officers’ Towards an Inmates with Mental illness in Agodi Prison, Oyo State, Nigeria

Adeoti,

Akinsola,

Oyinlola

2024

IJSW

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There is a frequently higher prevalence of mental health problems among the incarcerated population in Nigeria. However, their mental health is often neglected, leading to a complex interplay of issues that hinder effective rehabilitation and integration of offenders into society. This study examined the attitudinal disposition of correctional officers towards the mental health of an inmate in Agodi correctional home, Ibadan. This is a cross-sectional study design and a stratified random sampling technique were used to select 200 correctional officers. A socio-demographic questionnaire and questions focusing on the stigmatization of inmates living with mental health. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to test the generated hypotheses at a 0.05 significance level. Findings revealed that there was a significant relationship between counselling service and inmate mental health (r = .621, n= 200, p < .05), there was a significant relationship between rehabilitation program and inmate mental health (r = .642, n= 200, p < .05), there was a significant relationship between welfare service and inmate mental health (r = .716, n= 200, p < .05), there was a significant relationship between correctional officers attitude and inmates mental health (r = .731, n= 200, p < .05). This study underscored the potential consequences of negative attitudes, such as stigmatization, discrimination, and inadequate provision of mental health care, which can impede the rehabilitation and successful reintegration of inmates into society. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the attitudinal disposition of correctional officers towards inmates with mental illness is imperative.

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Mental health services in Nigerian prisons: Lessons from a four-year review and the literature

Cited by 12 publications

References 35 publications

Absconsion in forensic psychiatric services: a systematic review of literature

Absconsion in forensic psychiatric services: a systematic review of literature

Alcohol use disorder among prisoners in Debre Berhan prison, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Attitudinal Disposition of Correctional Officers’ Towards an Inmates with Mental illness in Agodi Prison, Oyo State, Nigeria

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