lecture 9 - experiencing imprisonment (vulnerable prisoners) Flashcards
what are factors associated with vulnerable (to wound)?
- susceptible
- defenceless
- helpless
- weak
- exposed
what does importing pre-existing vulnerabilities make more difficult?
makes adaptation and coping more difficult
what % of people report poor mental health in prison?
58%
how are some people more vulnerable because of the prison environment?
- physical layout (when have disabilities) and conditions of prison
- use of separate accommodation according to perceived vulnerability
what is the fastest growing age group in prisons?
older prisoners
what % of prisoners are over age of 50?
17%
1 in 6
how much has the older prisoner population increased 2002-2016?
14%
what % of prisoners aged over 50 are convicted of historical sexual offending?
43%
what % of prisoners aged over 50 have a recorded physical disability?
28%
how many prisoners are aged over 80 in 2022?
368
what is the impact of longer and life sentences on older prisoners?
greater difficulties for resettlement
what is the HMPPS response to problems with older prisoners?
- emergence of specialist assisted living units and older prisoner units
what challenges for prison officers are there in relation to older prisoners?
having to care rather than control
what is institutional thoughtlessness in prisons? crawley and sparks 2005
way in which prison regimes roll on with little reference to needs and sensibilities of the old
examples of institutional thoughtlessness
- physical layout: stairs, handrails distances
- social exclusion: work, gym, education
- fear of decline and dying in prison
what do sexual offenders provoke?
strong, emotive feelings among general population
these attitudes are imported into prisons, by prisoners and staff
what % of prison population are convicted of sexual offending?
18%
what type of sexual offenders against adults?
generalists or specialists
what type of sexual offenders against children?
typically older, sometimes better educated
- including professional social classes
- may be non contact
is it common to have sexual offenders against both children and adults?
no, its rare
people convicted of sexual offending are doubly excluded (quote)
outcasts among outcasts
what impact on prison experience do sexual offenders feel?
- threatened
- actual fatal violence
- bullying
- verbal abuse
- impact on prospects for successful resettlement
what is HMPPS response for sexual offenders
- rule 45
- use of Vulnerable Prisoner Units (VPUs)
- specialist prisons
how do sex offenders cope on normal location?
- fronting out
-not disclosing offence: passing
what difficulties do sex offenders have in concealing their offence in normal location
- more difficult to conceal
- difficulties of accessing treatment
fronting out definition
cultivating a version of self that is inauthentic
wearing masks/ putting up fronts as way of dealing with psychological and physical challenges
how do sex offenders cope on VPU or dedicated prison
- offence integral to personal and social identity
- greater safety and ease of treatment access
criticisms of sex offenders on VPU or dedicated prisons
- reinforcement of identity
- potential to facilitate networking
managing a spoiled identity for sex offenders goffman 1963
- coping through scapegoating
- offending hierarchies including between nonces
- camaraderie
- deliberate ignorance of each others offences
greater negative attitude for sex offenders by who?
among officers
how did trained treatment facilitators view their sex offender clients?
commonly as manipulative and devious individuals
- but also as simply human beings who had committed dreadful crimes
what is professional-personal dialectic
- separate individual from offence
- reconcile professional responsibilities from instinctive feelings of disgust
- requires conscious emotional labour
working with sex offenders requires
- professional-personal dialectic
- compartmentalisation of work and personal life
what intensifies the disgust for sexula offenders
the inmate code
soemtimes staff
