The mental health of foreign national prisoners

Contemporary Migrant Health Experience and Unique Health Care Needs in European Prisons and Immigration Detention Settings

“…The review revealed a limited peer reviewed evidence base (n=15) pertaining to the health situation of migrants detained or incarcerated in Europe since 2014. The majority of the literature referred to the UK (n=7) (Arshad et al, 2018;Dexter & Katona, 2018;Hollis, 2019;Sen et al, 2018;Sen et al, 2014;Smith, 2017;Till et al, 2019). Of the eight remaining: three were based in Sweden (Puthoopparambil, Ahlberg, et al, 2015a, 2015bPuthoopparambil, Bjerneld, et al, 2015) one in Spain (Ruiz-García & Castillo-Algarra, 2014); one in Portugal (Santos et al, 2018); one at a Greek-Turkish border (Eonomopoulou et al, 2017); one in the Benelux countries Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (Puthoopparambil & Bjerneld, 2016) and one referred to the EU as a whole (Mulgrew, 2016).…”

“…Of the eight remaining: three were based in Sweden (Puthoopparambil, Ahlberg, et al, 2015a, 2015bPuthoopparambil, Bjerneld, et al, 2015) one in Spain (Ruiz-García & Castillo-Algarra, 2014); one in Portugal (Santos et al, 2018); one at a Greek-Turkish border (Eonomopoulou et al, 2017); one in the Benelux countries Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (Puthoopparambil & Bjerneld, 2016) and one referred to the EU as a whole (Mulgrew, 2016). There were five qualitative studies using interviews (Arshad et al, 2018;Hollis, 2019;Puthoopparambil, Ahlberg, et al, 2015a, 2015bRuiz-García & Castillo-Algarra, 2014); three review articles (Mulgrew, 2016;Sen et al, 2014;Till et al, 2019); two case studies (Puthoopparambil & Bjerneld, 2016;Santos et al, 2018); one feasibility study (Sen et al, 2018); one prospective study (Eonomopoulou et al, 2017); one correspondence (Smith, 2017); one cross-sectional study using a questionnaire (Puthoopparambil, Bjerneld, et al, 2015) and one editorial (Dexter & Katona, 2018). MIGRANT HEALTH EXPERIENCE IN EUROPEAN CLOSED SETTINGS.…”

Foreign National Patients in German Prison Psychiatry

“…There are numerous claims regarding the therapeutic conditions of ethnic-minority, immigrant, and foreign national prisoners, which should likewise apply to the psychiatric assessment of these groups (10,13,26,45,67). Schouler-Ocak and Aichberger (68) noted that despite wider acceptance among practitioners, the implementation of postulated adjustmentssuch as intercultural skills, native-speaking impartial interpreters, and regular supervision-remains arduous.…”

“…Multiple sources indicate serious mental health issues among ethnic-minority and immigrant prisoners (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). Recent research suggests that the majority of factors leading to mental health vulnerability among prisoners, such as language barriers, isolation, cultural misunderstanding, and legal standing, are even more salient for foreign national prisoners (4,12,13,(24)(25)(26).…”

“…Recent studies implicate that citizenship-related barriers might be held responsible for treatment disparity: Sen et al (13) suggested that foreign national prisoners in England and Wales under-accessed mental health care due to factors related to applying for these services, such as a specific residency and prior registration with a general practitioner (26,42). In the Netherlands, Vinkers et al (43) pointed out that while compulsory admission to psychiatric hospitals was higher among non-nationals, conditional admission to penitentiaries -which is only offered to patients who are considered compliant -was lower.…”