The ‘pains of imprisonment’ have been a longstanding concern within prison sociology. This article revisits the topic, suggesting that modern penal practices have created some new burdens and frust...

Depth, weight, tightness: Revisiting the pains of imprisonment

Suicide is a major public health concern accounting for 800 000 deaths globally each year. Although there have been many advances in understanding suicide risk in recent decades, our ability to predict suicide is no better now than it was 50 years ago. There are many potential explanations for this lack of progress, but the absence, until recently, of comprehensive theoretical models that predict the emergence of suicidal ideation distinct from the transition between suicidal ideation and suicide attempts/suicide is key to this lack of progress. The current article presents the integrated motivational–volitional (IMV) model of suicidal behaviour, one such theoretical model. We propose that defeat and entrapment drive the emergence of suicidal ideation and that a group of factors, entitled volitional moderators (VMs), govern the transition from suicidal ideation to suicidal behaviour. According to the IMV model, VMs include access to the means of suicide, exposure to suicidal behaviour, capability for suicide (fearlessness about death and increased physical pain tolerance), planning, impulsivity, mental imagery and past suicidal behaviour. In this article, we describe the theoretical origins of the IMV model, the key premises underpinning the model, empirical tests of the model and future research directions. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolutionary thanatology: impacts of the dead on the living in humans and other animals'.

Status of the integrated motivational-volitional model of suicidal behaviour

As penal power has been transformed in recent years, so too have relationships between prisoners and staff. This article discusses how these relationships are forged by the terms of ‘neo-paternalism’, focusing in particular on what is labelled ‘soft power’. It describes some of the impediments that hinder the development of closer relationships between prisoners and uniformed staff. It explores the implications of soft power for the prison’s interior legitimacy, and discusses soft power in relation to the culture of uniformed staff.

Soft power in prison: Implications for staff–prisoner relationships, liberty and legitimacy:

Mary Douglas argues that, 'There are some things we cannot experience without ritual.' Ex-prisoner reintegration may be one of them. The punishment process involves an inordinate amount of ritual behavior, from the drama of the courtroom to the elaborate de-individuation processes involved in institutionalization. Durkheim argues that these rituals serve a distinct purpose for society: engendering social solidarity and shaping penal sensibilities. Like the commission of a crime, the reintegration of the former outcast back into society represents a challenge to the moral order, a delicate transition fraught with danger and possibility. However, unlike punishment, reintegration is not a process characterized by well-orchestrated and familiar rituals. This lack might explain the failings of prisoner reentry in contemporary society. This article reviews the socio- logical and anthropological literature on rituals, explaining what they are and what they do, focusing in particular on the role of status degradation ceremonies in criminal justice work. Drawing on this literature, the core elements that would be needed to develop rituals of reintegration powerful enough to counteract these degradation effects are discussed, and the potential impact of such hypothetical rituals is explored.

Reentry as a Rite of Passage

This book is intended as a key text for advanced undergraduates in social policy, social work, and youth/community work. It can also be used as a supplementary text for sociology of education/work/stratification, criminology, education, and personal reference for researchers and practitioners.

Youth And Social Policy: Youth Citizenship And Young Careers

Introduction 1. The background 2. The view from Europe 3. Parliament and the government respond 4. Panels in practice 5. Release procedures compared 6. The spirit of Thynne and the reality 7. Lessons and conclusions

Beyond the tariff : human rights and the release of life sentence prisoners

This article explores the recent enormous increase in the number of prisoners recalled each year to prison in England and Wales: prisoners who had previously been released, either automatically or on the direction of the Parole Board. It explores law and practice, focusing in the analysis on pre-release processes, the process of recall and on the prisoner's journey towards re-release. Having considered the role of the Parole Board and of the executive more generally, the paper concludes that there should be a review of whether ‘sentence review courts’ would work better to encourage offenders to earn their way out of prison and off supervision.

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Recalling conditionally released prisoners in England and Wales

Out of Court, out of Sight? Criminal Sanctions and Non-Judicial Decision-Making

There has long been concern about the number of people who die in custody in England and Wales, particularly in prisons or police stations. The concern is obviously heightened when people die either at their own hand, or at the hands of others. Yet there has been selective critical gaze, and people who die whilst under probation or community supervision have been neglected (Phillips, J, Gelsthorpe, L, Padfield, N., Criminology & Criminal Justice, https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895817745939
 , 2017). Given that there is evidence to suggest that contact with the criminal justice system in non-custodial settings is associated with higher mortality rates than those found in the general population, such neglect is concerning. This article explores data which has been published since 2016 by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) on the deaths of offenders whilst under supervision. We draw on data which is collected by probation providers and collated by HMPPS to present original analyses, with particular focus on deaths by suicide. We calculate rates of self-inflicted deaths and rate ratios with the general population and the prison population. The suicide rates for all groups within the sample are higher than the general population. We explore the utility of the data in helping us to understand the trends regarding people dying whilst under probation supervision with a particular focus on suicide, and highlight areas where the dataset is deficient. We conclude that whilst the dataset can be used to calculate headline rates of suicide it raises many questions in terms of the extant risks that people on probation face, and we explore ways in which the data can be used more fully to understand this important social and public health issue. We consider ways in which the dataset could be matched with other datasets in future research so that health issues might be brought into the analysis, and reflect on other research methodologies which would add depth to our understanding of why the mortality rate amongst people in contact with the criminal justice system is higher than in the general population.

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Suicide and community justice

1. Introduction 2. The Police 3. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) 4. Non-Police Investigations 5. Defence Lawyers 6. Magistrates 7. Trial Judges 8. Juries 9. Appeal and Review Decisions 10. Sentence Management Index

Nicola Padfield

Papers

Beyond the tariff : human rights and the release of life sentence prisoners

Recalling conditionally released prisoners in England and Wales

Out of Court, out of Sight? Criminal Sanctions and Non-Judicial Decision-Making

Suicide and community justice

Text and Materials on the Criminal Justice Process