A massive isolation regime imposed on UK prisons during the pandemic has spurred a mental health crisis in prisons and put public safety at risk, according to one of the most important prisoner experience studies ever conducted. .
Based on a detailed survey of more than 1,400 inmates in 10 prisons, conducted by teams of researchers just like themselves were imprisoned, the study offers an unprecedented view of the emergency blocking conditions introduced in UK prisons. when it was feared that they would become hot spots for the Covid. -19 virus.
It was found that 85% of inmates reported being locked up in their cells for more than 23 hours a day for many months at a time, while their access to rehabilitation programs, family visits and regular exercise was stopped in great measure. In fact, this subjected inmates to “one of the most extreme confinement regimes in the world,” the study says.
Prisoners describe how covid isolation affected their mental health: video
It vividly records the “widespread trauma” inflicted on prisoners, as prolonged isolation and the boredom of long closures turned prison life into “groundhog day” and affected the mental well-being of inmates. There are harrowing accounts of self-harm, suicide, suicidal thoughts, widespread despair, and spiraling anxiety.
Sign up for First Edition, our free daily newsletter, every weekday morning at 7:00 BST
The study found that scores of depression and anxiety among inmates increased dramatically during confinement and were nearly five times higher than in the general population. Through standardized mental health measures, more than a third of inmates scored at the level of severe anxiety disorder.
While the study says strict conditions “probably saved lives” at the height of the pandemic, it adds that in many prisons there are still aspects of the regime largely in place despite the lifting of Covid’s restrictions on the rest of society. In February, half of the inmates reported that they were still locked up for 23 hours a day.
Mark Johnson, the founder of User Voice, the charity that conducted peer-to-peer research for the study, said the consequence of the prison confinement regime would be a “time bomb for the mental health, ”as traumatized and volatile former offenders re-enter society without having done so. has received rehabilitation or support.
“A criminal justice system with little funding and insufficient staff that simply shuts people down and precipitates mental health crises really costs more in the long run? If prisons are just locks and keys and offer nothing more, what security are prisoners and the audience when they are released? ”Johnson asks in the study prologue.
The Ministry of Justice has defended its Covid regime against allegations that it was disproportionate. He says that in June this year a total of 200 prisoners had died in the 60 days following a positive test of Covid-19 or that Covid-19 was listed as a contributing factor to his death, far less than the 2,700 potential victims modeled by Public Health England. .
A Penitentiary Service spokesman said: “Our hard but necessary action during the pandemic saved the lives of many employees and prisoners, and we quickly implemented measures such as video calls and cell education in recognition of the impact. We continue to increase support for mental health and improve staff training, and our prison strategy sets out a clear vision to provide all offenders with the education, skills and support they need to return to normalcy. ”
The study challenges official claims that while the blockade conditions were necessarily draconian, they also reduced violence and managed to “bring peace” to prisons. More than half of the inmates disagreed, saying verbal harassment and coercion had increased, but largely had not been reported and the risk of riots and disorder had increased.
Most inmates felt prison conditions had been maintained or worsened since the pandemic, with Covid used as an “excuse” to mask a staffing and resource crisis. “The general consensus … was that blocking restrictions were not a historical aberration … but were about to become the new normal for those in prison,” the study says.
Supervised by academics from Queen’s University Belfast and funded by the Council for Economic and Social Research, the study was based on surveys and focus groups on a geographically diverse range of facilities, from high-security prisons to in open prisons, women’s prisons and juvenile delinquent institutes. The surveys were conducted between June 2021 and February with the collaboration of prison authorities.
The findings were not universally negative, and inmates praised cases in which authorities responded quickly to Covid outbreaks, for example, or the introduction in some prisons of cell phones or video links to try to compensate for the loss of family visits.
Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said the study confirmed anecdotal reports of prison conditions over the past two-and-a-half years. “Prison confinement has been more extreme and much longer than in the community. Its impact on mental health has been disastrous and rehabilitation work has stopped. “
-
In the UK, you can contact Samaritans at 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. You can contact the Mind Mental Health Charity by calling 0300 123 3393 or visiting mind.org.uk