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VAM-Velferd, arbeid og migrasjon

Prisoner health in healthy prisons: Punishment, marginalisation, and access to welfare

Alternative title: Fangers helse og sunne fengsler: Straff, marginalisering og tilgang til velferdstjenester

Awarded: NOK 12.0 mill.

Project Manager:

Project Number:

300995

Application Type:

Project Period:

2020 - 2024

Funding received from:

Partner countries:

In Norway, prisoners retain all rights to welfare provisions while they are incarcerated, including the right to high-quality healthcare services free of charge. At the same time, studies show that a number of physical and mental health problems are relatively common among prisoners. Research also suggests that prison environments in themselves can cause, contribute to and exacerbate health problems. With the PRISONHEALTH project, our aim is to study the health effects of a prison sentence from a broad perspective. We want to find out whether welfare state health care services reach prisoners, and identify possible challenges and obstacles to healthcare service delivery in prison and how to avoid them in practice. We also want to examine the long-term effects of prison healthcare delivery from the perspective of individual prisoners as well as that of general society, including effects on health-related outcomes such as living conditions, criminal activity and post-release mortality. And we want to find out whether prisons can, in some circumstances, provide prisoners with a positive and constructive environment where personal development and growth is possible. PRISONHEALTH findings may have important implications for national and international policy debates surrounding the growth in imprisonment rates and the nature and quality of health coverage in prison. Our findings will be relevant for prison managers, prison officers, and nurses and medical doctors working in prisons in their efforts to create more healthy prisons. Our research will benefit the various voluntary sector organizations working in the field, including organizations trying to help former prisoners reintegrate back into society post-release. Our ultimate long-term goal is to contribute to strengthen healthcare service delivery in prison and to help prison and healthcare professionals create more constructive and health-promoting prison environments in both Norway and internationally. As of September 2021, the project is up and running more or less as planned. All project participants have been recruited. Data collection is ongoing in several prisons. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a few minor adjustments to the empirical/data collection plans, but we have been able to make the best of the situation. The small adjustments we have had to make have so far not resulted in any major changes to the project. In June 2021, we organised our first joint (with the PriSUD project) annual stakeholder and international advisory board seminar. For pandemic reasons, the seminar was held on Zoom. Web: https://www.jus.uio.no/ikrs/english/research/projects/prisonhealth/

Scandinavian prison systems have been described as welfare-oriented. Prisoners retain all rights to welfare provisions while they are incarcerated, including the right to high-quality specialist healthcare free of charge. Studies show that a number of physical and mental health problems are over-represented in the prison population. Research also suggests that prison environments in themselves can cause, contribute to and exacerbate health problems. We want to find out whether welfare state services reach the most marginalised and vulnerable parts of the population, and identify possible legal challenges and obstacles to healthcare service delivery in prison and how to avoid them in practice (WP1). We also want to examine the long-term effects of prison healthcare delivery from the perspective of the individual as well as that of general society, including effects on health-related outcomes, living-conditions, criminal recidivism and mortality (WP2). And we want to find out whether prisons can, in some circumstances, provide prisoners with a positive and constructive environment where personal development, healing and growth is possible (WP3). All in all, PRISONHEALTH is a study of the delivery of welfare state healthcare services within the frame of a welfare-oriented penal system, but also of the challenges that may arise in the encounter between welfare and penal logics, both on paper and in practice. Our aim is to strengthen healthcare service delivery and help prison and healthcare professionals make penal institutions more constructive and health-promoting environments in both Norway and beyond.

Publications from Cristin

Funding scheme:

VAM-Velferd, arbeid og migrasjon