Prisons, personality disorder and public health
Dr. Ruari-Santiago McBride (CoEfPHNI)
10.00, Wednesday 10 July. The Clubhouse, level 4
Offender health is a major public health issue. People who end up in prison typically have had a traumatic childhood, come from an economically deprived background, have low educational attainment, suffer from poor mental health and have dependency issues with legal and illicit substances. The pressures of the prison environment, including boredom, isolation, bullying and lack of control over one’s life, often have a detrimental effect on people’s mental health. Consequently, many people are released from prison with more problems than when they entered. For some, this leads to a ‘revolving door syndrome.’ The economic burden of the failing prison system is no longer sustainable in an age of austerity. Developing a public health approach would require inter-agency collaboration on three levels: a) early intervention, to prevent young people from going down a criminal career path; b) diversion, to prevent individuals with significant mental health problems from going to a prison environment; and, c) creative interventions, for those individuals who are deemed to require incarceration. The presentation will not present results from a specific intervention but will be an exploratory discussion that reflects on the presenter’s experience of volunteering in a high security prison; and, an analysis of interviews with ex-prisoners, third sector staff, healthcare staff and prison staff. The presentation will conclude that although there are major benefits to a public health approach there are huge barriers that need to be overcome before such an approach could be realised.