Analysing the views of people in custody about the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Scottish Prison Estate

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to foreground and analyse the views of people in custody about the management of the COVID-19 pandemic within the Scottish Prison Estate. The project is unique in using a correspondence participatory action methodology to engage with a group of people in custody at one Scottish prison. Design/methodology/approach At the time of ethical approval (early April 2020), all face-to-face research projects facilitated by the Scottish Prison Service were paused. In response to these methodological challenges, a participatory correspondence methodology was designed to allow people in custody to influence the direction of this project by suggesting research questions and themes. Eight participants were selected due to previous participation in research projects at one Scottish prison. All participants were adult males and serving long-term sentences. After consent was given via post, eight letters were distributed to participants with questions about their COVID-19 experiences. Methodologically, this project illustrates the potential for correspondence methods to facilitate insights into life in custody during what emerges as a particularly challenging time. Findings Participant suggested questions were used across six subsequent letters to elicit unique insights into the COVID-19 pandemic, of lockdown and subsequent easing of lockdown conditions in custody. The main project findings relate to challenges that the participants faced in relation to communication, feelings of heightened isolation and detachment from family, friends and the normal rhythms of life in prison. Analysis of letters provides unique insights into the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic in custody enhanced the pains of imprisonment, increasing the “tightness”, “depth” and “weight” of participants’ time in custody. Originality/value This paper is methodologically, epistemologically and theoretically original in foregrounding the views of people in custody about the management of COVID-19 in prison and using a correspondence participatory action research method. The conclusion considers the extent to which views from what might be considered the bottom of hierarchies of power within prison settings are able to influence the direction of prison policy around the management of COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Scoping review of mental health in prisons through the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The majority of papers were opinion pieces, with the exception of 10 case studies, [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] seven guidelines, 13-16 40-42 six literature reviews, [43][44][45][46][47][48] five qualitative studies, [49][50][51][52][53] three cross-sectional studies, [54][55][56] three briefings, [57][58][59] three case studies 37 39 60 and one study protocol. 61 All assessed studies were found to be of poor quality (see online supplemental appendix 3).…”

‘I Do Not Appear to Have had Previous Letters’. The Potential and Pitfalls of Using a Qualitative Correspondence Method to Facilitate Insights Into Life in Prison During the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…In terms of qualitative research on Covid-19 more widely, the responses to letter two shaped later correspondence between the PI and participants, reported elsewhere (Maycock, 2021;Maycock & Dickson, 2021), and it is hoped that the letters that came after letter two were ones that resonated with areas that the participants felt were important. In this sense, we can clearly see the impacts of the participants responses analysed in this paper in relation to the direction of the research project from letter two onwards.…”

“…The findings of this study have been published elsewhere (Maycock, 2021; Maycock & Dickson, 2021), these focus on the reflections of people in custody about the ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown have been managed within a Scottish prison. Additionally, a more theoretical paper analyses the ways in which the Covid-19 lockdown increased feelings of isolation and the ‘depth’ of prison sentences for the participants in this study.…”

Depopulation or vaccination? Tackling the COVID-19 crisis in prisons in Africa

“…Like many other total institutional settings, prisons have remained key hotspots for the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) since its declaration as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (WHO, 2020 ; Cingolani et al, 2020 ; Pettus-Davis et al, 2021 ). Prisoners have been recognized as more susceptible to the virus compared to the general population (Maycock & Dickson, 2021 ; Mhlanda-Gunda et al 2022 ). Similarly, Braithwaite et al ( 2021 ) explain that overcrowding in prisons coupled with the convoluted human communication patterns in prison facilities have accounted for the spike in the prevalence of COVID-19 in such settings globally.…”

“…The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has, therefore, been very categorical on the need for all UN member countries to incorporate prisons, prisoners, and prison workers into COVID-19 public health responses (Reuters, 2021 ). However, lack of compliance and privation of thorough preparedness on the path of most countries, have resulted in unprecedented death cases in prisons across the globe (Franco-paredes et al, 2020 ; Maycock & Dickson, 2021 ). For instance, according to The Marshall Project ( 2021 ), about 275,000 prisoners have contracted the virus in the United States, with over 1700 of them losing their lives.…”