Issues of Correctional Services in Australia

Running Head: RESEARCH CORRECTIONAL SERVICES ISSUES (AUSTRALIA)

Research on Correctional Services Issues in Australia

Introduction

The World Health Organization sounded an alarm regarding the state of affairs in prisons. The report warned that if there were no collective and holistic action, incarceration centers would quickly turn into asylums for the mentally ill. It further pointed out that such a development was unfortunate because prisons were not suitable for the mentally ill. There was no treatment program or the capacity to handle such illnesses (WHO, 2008). Despite the report, prison facilities continue to house many people with mental illness. It is also cited that the rate of people becoming seriously mentally ill in some places is increasing fast (Young et al., 2019). The prevalence of mental illness cases in Australia can be compared to the ever-rising rate internationally. Figures indicate that one out of two people sent to prison in Australia report to have been informed of some kind of mental illness. The rate represents 49% of all incarcerated people (Young et al., 2019).

The mental illness prevalence in prisons in Australia over 12 months has been estimated to stand at between 43 and 80%. The report further shows that women are more affected (Butler et al., 2011; Young et al., 2019). Depression, anxiety, and psychotic disorders account for 25%, 14%, and 10%, respectively, for native Australians in prison, over 12 months (Heffernan et al., 2012). Prisoners are said to be 3 to 11 times likely to develop an effective, psychotic, anxiety, or personality disorder relative to the general population of Australians (AIHW, 2019; Young et al., 2019).

The rising incidence of mental problems in Australia's prisons could be a result of the psychosocial environment and the effectiveness of the set rehabilitation programs. The general belief is that prisons are not well slated to rehabilitate inmates. Several research pieces, both qualitative and quantitative, have suggested that prisons could be acting counter-purpose, albeit unintentionally (Day et al., 2011). Many concerns have been raised regarding the effectiveness of the rehabilitation programs running in Australian prisons. Critics have pointed out the gap between the policies for rehabilitation and how they are implemented (Day et al., 2011).

Research objective

This research aims to examine two phenomena occurring among prisoners in Australia: one of them is their mental health, and the other is the social climate within these institutions. The specific objectives are

i. To handle and bring into perspective the specifics of mental health cases in prisons, and how they relate with Anti-Social Personality Disorder among prisoners. Further, to establish how this relationship connects to criminal tendencies, to assess Australian prisons' social climate and establish the effectiveness of the rehabilitation programs.

ii. To discover the offender's behaviors of those with mental health problems and how they are connected to the crime.

iii. To establish how effective the implementation of reforms is and how they affect the quality of life and inmates' behavior.

iv. To evaluate the outcomes of rehabilitation meant to reduce offending tendencies and determine the rate of reoffending for the individual offender.

Significance of the study

The research findings from this study will address rehabilitation developments in the Australian Criminal Justice System by shedding light on the relationship between mental health and crime. Mental health problems can affect how someone thinks, feels, and reacts to situations (AIHW, 2019). The statistics point out that the rehabilitation programs in Australia should be redesigned to accommodate inmates with mental health complications and reduce the rate of mental health deterioration among incarcerated individuals. The study is useful because it will establish the current conditions and recommend improving the mental health of prisoners in Australia, and the social environment within the incarceration centers.

Literature Review

Mental health is a critical component of psychological, social, and emotional well-being. It affects families, individuals, and the community in general. Severe mental health conditions are too high in prison. For instance, in London, a prison population was reported to exceed 20 times, relative to the rate in the general population. It was also established that over 70% of the prisoners have over one mental health disorder (Bebbington et al., 2017). Mental health conditions, like other chronic conditions, do not increase with age. Moreover, it is noteworthy that an encounter with the justice system may be the first time one experiences a health professional assessing one's mental health.

Mental health before and while in prison

A study based on a population of adults aged from 20 years and 30 years showed that 32% of patients with psychiatric illness had been rounded up by the police in ten years preceding the study. It also showed that the first time these people were arrested was before they ever met a mental health expert and service (Morgan et al., 2013). The prevalence of self-reported mental health conditions in prisons is high and is attended, but their mental health can worsen after they are released (Cutcher et al., 2014). Prison populations with mental health conditions are associated with alcohol and drug use complications, poor health outcomes, and crime after they are released. A connection has also been established between drug users who inject themselves and the incidence of mental health disorder, suicidal behavior, and self-harm after release (Butler et al., 2018; Cossar et al., 2018; Stewart et al., 2018).

The type of health assessment that prisoners receive the first time that they are booked in is a screening that includes the history and or a tool for mental health screening (Martin et al., 2018). Therefore, the prisoners can be referred to various experts for further observation, assessment, or treatment. After assessing the entrants to prison, the clinic's staff was asked whether the entrant presented signs of harming themselves. Consequently, the participant was referred to a mental health service point for further assessment and observation. Female entrants to prison were more likely to be referred to a mental health expert for assessment and observation than their male counterparts. Nonindigenous Australians were 20% more likely to be referred than the indigenous entrants at 14% (AIHW, 2019; Martin et al., 2018). The numbers agreed with the figures of prison entrants who self-reported mental health problems.

Mental health medicines, referred to as psychotropic drugs, consist of an array of medicines such as mood stabilizers, antidepressants, sedatives, and hypnotics. Prisoners are more commonly put on psychotropic drugs, compared to other people, in general (Spittal et al., 2019). Another study indicated that 18% of prisoners were put on psychotropic medications when they were first admitted (AIHW, 2019). In England, the rate of administration of psychotropic medicines was 5.5 times higher for women and 5-9 times higher for women than the rates administered to the general population in a similar age bracket (Hassan et al. 2014). Women who have been incarcerated and sent to prisons in Australia are more likely to have had a psychotropic prescription than their male counterparts. About half of those discharged from prison in South Wales showed that they were on prescribed psychotropic medication (Abbott et al., 2016).

Prison Climate and Prisoner Well-Being

Prison climate has been defined before as the emotional, social, physical, and organizational attributes of a correctional center, as seen by staff and inmates (Ross et al., 2008, p. 447). The Aspects below make up the prison environment: order, activities with meaning, autonomy, being in touch with the world outside, prisoner-staff relationships, and the facilities (van Ginneken et al., 2019). Research done earlier shows that a friendly prison atmosphere leads to improved outcomes related to behavior, motivation for treatment, therapeutic outcomes, and general well-being (Gonçalves et al., 2016; van Ginneken et al. 2019).

Incarcerated people can be significantly affected by the prison environment. The physical and organizational characteristics of the prison environment offer the perimeters that shape social life. Although imprisonment is linked to numerous deprivations, variations exist across the prison centers and even regimes within the same institutions. For instance, being deprived of autonomy and liberty may not be felt by those who spend their time out in the field and are allowed to move within the prison facilities during the day (Van der Kaap-Deeder et al., 2017). Prisons meant to keep sensitive prisoners impose stringent regulations, deprivations, and restrictions. It is not surprising that the latter is also associated with reduced well being. From a deprivation view, therefore, the rate of adjusting is affected by the hardships one undergoes in prison.

Secondly, the emotional and social characteristics of the prison environment, which is made up of peer relationships and prisoner and staff relationships, is critical to understanding fairness and safety. Fair treatment and safety are seen as essential elements of a conducive prison climate (Beijersbergen et al., 2014). The power of the prison staff is overwhelming over the prisoners. Such a development is not because they hold the key to the prisoners' freedom but because they possess soft power over their subjects. They can decide on what privileges the prisoners will access, the activities they will be allowed to participate in, services, and goods. It holds, even for indeterminate (van Ginneken et al., 2019).

Earlier research indicates that when procedural justice is viewed positively, there are better mental health outcomes, reduced recidivism, and misconduct (Beijersbergen et al., 2014). Relations, such as trust among people of the same interest and age, also affect how incarceration is handled. How it relates to well-being is a controversial subject. Victimization and the fear of it in prison are a cause of worry, and it compromises their well-being. Earlier research shows that there is little research on mental health and its relationship with crime. No data shows how the social climate in incarceration centers in Australia affects the outcomes of rehabilitation programs. This study aims at filling such gaps by responding to the question: What is the link between the prison environment and mental health outcomes of those imprisoned? Further, how does such a relationship affect the effectiveness of the initiatives for rehabilitation?

Methodology

A literature review methodology was used for this research. The method involved the review of relevant archival data from various government websites and databases, review of laws/policies, and academic reports on mental illness among Australian prisoners and social climate in Australian prisons.

A search was conducted on Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) and Google (google.com.au). the search utilized the following two keywords; "Mental illness in incarcerated offenders and their connection to crime"; and "social climate of Australian prisons and the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs." Inclusion criteria were materials that addressed the Australian prison context, published in English, published by professional government agencies or peer-reviewed articles, and published in English.

The search results were thoroughly scrutinized for inclusion. The scrutiny began with the title to establish its relevance to the research problems. The included materials were next screened at the abstract level. Next, the full text was screened. The final included sources were analyzed through thematic analysis method. The thematic analysis method was considered appropriate for this method. It helped to identify the common themes in the reviewed materials to help determine the research objectives for the current study.

Findings

In the two search databases, a total of 57 materials were considered to satisfy the inclusion criteria. A review of the titles eliminated 32 materials. It means, only 25 materials had their abstracts scrutinized for relevance, of which 15 were eliminated. Ten materials proceeded to the full-text scrutinization level, of which four were eliminated, and only six sources were included in the study.

Figure 1. Flow Chart on screening procedure for materials reviewed.

Discussion

Two out five entrants to prison and 37% of those being discharged reported having been diagnosed with a mental health condition. They also reported a diagnosis of disorders related to alcohol and drugs. The data also shows that 65% of women are more likely to report a mental health condition than men, at 36%. 40% of women are also likely to take drugs administered for such disorders compared to 21% of men (AIHW, 2019). Prison entrants who are nonindigenous reported a 26% rate of disclosure about their being on mental health medication. In the general population of prison entrants, 73% of people had been there before, and half of them (45%) had been in such facilities merely 12 months earlier or less. Mental health disorders hardly arise in isolation in prison. The mental needs of complex forms and multiple morbidities are normative. Mental disorders are defined as mental illnesses or complications of substance abuse. The co-occurrence of mental illness and substance abuse disorders, commonly called dual diagnosis is more common among prisoners (Young et al., 2019).

Although the literature that has been reviewed does not show that mental health complications are a direct cause of criminal conduct, the data available shows that mental health problems are more common among prisoners than in the general population (Forsythe & Gaffney, 2012). Australia confirms such a scenario: where the rate of mental health problems is much higher in prisons than in the general population. Prisoners are also found to abuse substances more. The comorbidity of these ailments and habits increases one's tendency to engage in crime (Forsythe & Gaffney, 2012). Day et al. also found similar trends that even though mental health disorder is not a direct cause of the criminal act, there is evidence that when combined with substance abuse, such a likelihood increases.

There is also evidence that prisoners with dual diagnoses encounter serious disciplinary action from the prison authorities, compared to those with no comorbidities. Unfortunately, such a scenario leads to more complications (Young et al., 2019). While being imprisoned is widely viewed as a regrettable development, it is also seen as a public opportunity to deal with people exhibiting mental health needs that have not been met. Nevertheless, the truth is that it is still a missed chance in the Australian criminal justice system and prisons in particular. Some factors may contribute to the well-being of prisoners. These include how the prison environment is designed, and personal vulnerabilities and situations (van Ginneken et al., 2019). The implication is that, although a prisoner may have a mild mental health disorder at the time they are booked in, it is exacerbated with time as they stay in the facility. Such a scenario may lead them to go back to their criminal tendencies when they are released.

Recidivism is a serious problem at both society level and in public health. There is no evidence of programs of pre-release that address reoffending (Giles, 2016). Rehabilitation programs for offenders in prison facilities are clearly defined and laid out. Each jurisdiction has its independent set of rehabilitation programs for offenders. In 2004, there was a review of the offender-focused programs for rehabilitation across the nation. The review was updated in 2011 (Giles, 2016; Young et al., 2019). There is lack of evidence of the effectiveness of the review. There is no defined recommendation of what needs to be changed in the existing programs to accommodate prisoners with mental health issues.

Conclusion

Currently, research shows that mental sickness is linked to a high risk of offending and a higher chance of encountering the criminal justice system. Such a reality calls for taking measures to prevent, including picking out the individuals at risk and doing something to reduce the risk. A high number of those arrested by law enforcement agents have revealed having been diagnosed with a mental health disorder at one point or another. When a prisoner is being booked in, their psychiatric history should signal the need to do a comprehensive psychological assessment. The justice and mental health areas have not had the due attention they deserve in terms of resources, in tandem with the experienced discrimination, and the need to witness and demonstrate. The poor attention spans from resourcing to research, locally and at the international level. Although this review is not able to offer a systematic account of related literature from the relevant themes, it points out the length and breadth of the discipline and the lack of evidence that exists at the moment. There are several complications apart from the failure to prioritize research, service development, and intervention. Employees of the justice system, researchers, and policymakers work across systems and disciplines. They use different methods, have, equally, different priorities and frameworks. The scenario also varies across states and jurisdictions in Australia.

Recommendations

Detecting, preventing, and treating mental health sickness appropriately and encouraging mental health well-being should be incorporated into the goals for public health and in prisons. It should be a core aspect of the management of prison facilities in Australia. Therefore, the following are recommendations

i. People with mental health problems should be redirected to mental health systems for proper guidance on how to deal with them. Prisons are not the right placers for the mental health treatment of patients. The criminal justice system focuses on punishment and deterrence. Legislation could help facilitate the smooth movement of people with mental health issues to a mental health facility.

ii. Prisoners should be provided with appropriate care and mental health treatment. They should be allowed access to assessment and treatment where needed. Referral to the mental health services should be part of the health services provided in prisons. The health services provided to the inmates should compare equally with those provided in the general community.

iii. Encourage high standards of management in prisons in Australia. Proper management of prisons will ensure the improved mental health of those imprisoned. Such management should pay attention to human rights and protect them. Paying attention to such aspects as sanitation, occupation, food, nondiscrimination, physical activity, promoting social networks, and violence will help.

References

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