Prisoners’ perspectives on the transition from the prison to the community: implications for settings-based health promotion

Abstract

Through qualitative exploration with soon-to-be-released men in three prisons in England, this paper examines the difficulties that prisoners envisage on returning back to community settings; entering other settings such as workplaces; and the implications the transition may have for their health. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with thirty-six prisoners, some of whom were convicted of sexual offences and based on a vulnerable prisoner unit (VPU). While not all prisoners offered the information, approximately two-thirds of the sample had offended previously. The transition that individuals make from the prison setting to the community can be potentially complex and often detrimental to health. Accommodation issues were forecast as a major concern for those men without family ties.Temporarily residing with friends or living in hostel residences were viable options for many prisoners, but both had drawbacks which could increase the probability of engaging in substance misuse. Resettlement issues were perceived to be more difficult for sex-offenders; their 'identity' provided an additional burden which created further re-integration difficulties.Employment opportunities, for example, were predicted to be drastically reduced as the men had signed the sex-offenders' register. The paper suggests that opportunities for successful transition could be enhanced by a more 'joined-up' settings perspective and proposes that a settings-based approach to health promotion, which emphasises the synergy between social settings and addressing wider determinants of health, should be applied to prisons to reduce, rather than exacerbate, inequalities.

Perspectives on implementing smoke-free prison policies in England and Wales

“…It was anticipated that using a qualitative approach would allow the subjective reality of the prison setting and the current and new smoking policy to be captured through the individual experiences of those who reside and work there. Focus groups are particularly appropriate in prison contexts and have been used successfully in previous research examining health promotion and public health in prisons (Nurse et al, 2003, Woodall et al, 2013. The challenge of conducting research in prison settings has been well-documented (Noaks and Wincup, 2004).…”

Playwork in prison as a mechanism to support family health and well-being

“…One of the major criticism of adopting the settings approach is that it fosters insularity and fragmentation (Dooris, 2006). This criticism is particularly appropriate in the criminal justice context, where prisoners often feel that progress achieved in the prison in relation to health, confidence and self-esteem is often 'lost' when returning back to the community setting (Woodall et al, 2013b). In relation to this, using play as a medium to foster interaction should ideally continue after release and, where necessary, supported by trained professionals.…”

Health-promoting prisons: theory to practice

“…Whitehead suggests that prison regimes usually make for unlikely therapeutic environments and that the health-promoting prisons movement perhaps exists as the most 'unpopular' of the settings-based environments (25). A number of authors have questioned whether prisons can therefore be salutogenic and indeed whether the core values within health promotion (empowerment, choice and control) can be applied to a prison context (24,26,27).…”