The mental health impact of parole on families of indeterminate‐sentenced prisoners in England and Wales

Abstract

Background: The indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP), was created in England and Wales in 2003. After its abolition in 2012, many IPP-prisoners have become stuck in the prison system, facing considerable problems of sentence progression. The extant literature makes clear that the uncertainty and hopelessness caused by the indeterminacy of the IPP sentence are compounded by the negative impacts experienced by families and others providing support to people serving these sentences. Aims: The mental strains caused for family members by the IPP sentence were examined. Of particular interest is the role and weight of the parole process experience, and its potential mental and physiological health impact on families. Methods: This article draws on findings from two qualitative research projects conducted with families of prisoners serving the IPP sentence in England and Wales. Their experiences will be examined by reference to literature on the mental health impact of indeterminate sentences on prisoners and their families and the wider literature on the symbiotic harms of imprisonment for families. The aim was to add to this by focusing on families' experiences of cumulative stress caused by the sentence. Findings: We demonstrate that the IPP parole process exerts specific weight and mental strains on family members occupying the negative end of the stress spectrum.

“Living with life”: Experiences of families of people serving a life sentence in Western Australia

“…[Dirk]Participants in our research spoke of what Annison and Condry (2022) described as the pains of hope; families operating in “a liminal state, hopeless but unable to fully abandon hope; hopeful but worn down by constant setbacks” (Annison & Condry, 2019, p. 13). They referred to the mental strain and stress associated with parole hearings that ultimately did not lead to release and feeling stuck in limbo as there is no date to work to and the inability to plan for an uncertain future (Adams & McCarthy, 2022; Annison & Condry, 2019; Straub & Annison, 2020). This is exacerbated if the parole process is considered to be unjust, in the hand of politicians, and therefore subject to electoral pressures (Annison & Condry, 2019; Seah et al, 2022).…”

“…Reporting on a second, interrelated project, Straub and Annison (2020) discuss the (mental health) impact of parole, based on collaborative workshops with families ( n = 12) of prisoners serving IPP. The impact on families is referred to as “secondary pains of imprisonment” and “symbiotic harms”, which is general for all families of prisoners, but the indeterminacy of IPP exacerbates this.…”

Should desistance thinking be applied to children in the criminal justice system?

“…Others have suggested much longer periods, decades, before desistance can be considered to have been achieved (see Shapland, 2022). There is a further issue here: recent research has brought attention to the harms associated with indeterminate custodial sentences (Straub and Annison, 2020). Here, we have a situation that we might understand as something of its communitybased equivalent: the indeterminate community sentence.…”

Parole decisions about perpetrators of domestic violence in England and Wales

“…Almost half of these had been recalled to custody after release. These offenders often present a continued risk of offending, and are more likely than the average prisoner to experience mental illness and substance addiction (McConnell & Raikes, 2019; Rutherford, 2009), but there is pressure on the Parole Board to move such prisoners out of a penal system which may exacerbate those problems (Annison & Condry, 2022; Straub & Annison, 2020).…”