Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

‘There Was No Understanding, There Was No Care, There Was No Looking After Me’: The Impact of the Prison Environment on the Mental Health of Female Prisoners

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Mental Health in Prisons

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

Abstract

This chapter considers how the prison environment impacts women’s mental health during their incarceration. Through interviews with women living on the housing block of a closed Female Training Prison in England, the experience of imprisonment is considered to have substantial impact on mental health through lack of social support from others, uncertainty around punishment and a lack of opportunities to engage in meaningful activity in order to promote mental health. Behaviours to overcome these feelings were not necessarily about promoting mental health, but emerged as a result of the need to cope with the prison environment. The findings are discussed in relation to the broader literature and policy surrounding health and health promotion in prisons.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Aresti, A., Eatough, V., & Brooks-Gordon, B. (2010). Doing time after time: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of reformed ex-prisoners’ experiences of self-change, identity and career opportunities. Psychology, Crime and Law, 16, 169–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baillargeon, J., Black, S. A., Pulvino, J., & Dunn, K. (2000). The disease profile of Texas prison inmates. Annals of Epidemiology, 10, 74–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baum, E. M. (1983). Handicapped prisoners: An ignored minority. Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, 18, 349–379.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baybutt, M., Acin, E., Hayton, P., & Dooris, M. (2014). Promoting health in prisons: A settings approach. In E. Enngist, L. Møller, G. Galea, & C. Udesen (Eds.), Prisons and health (pp. 180–184). Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beer, A. M., Morgan, R. D., Garland, J. T., & Spanierman, L. B. (2007). The role of romantic/intimate relationships in the well-being of incarcerated females. Psychological Services, 4, 250–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biggerstaff, D., & Thompson, A. R. (2008). Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA): A qualitative methodology of choice in healthcare research. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 5, 214–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosworth, M., & Carrabine, E. (2001). Reassessing resistance: Race, gender and sexuality in prison. Punishment and Society, 3, 501–515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, R. G., & Davino, K. M. (2002). Women’s perceptions of the prison environment: When prison is “the safest place I’ve ever been”. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26, 351–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buckaloo, B. J., Krug, K. S., & Nelson, K. B. (2009). Exercise and the low-security inmate: Changes in depression, stress, and anxiety. The Prison Journal, 89, 328–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caraher, M., Dixon, P., Carr-Hill, R., Hayton, P., McGough, H., & Bird, L. (2002). Are health-promoting prisons an impossibility? Lessons from England and Wales. Health Education, 102, 219–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlen, P. (1998). Sledgehammer: Women’s imprisonment at the millennium. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Carlton, B., & Segrave, M. (2011). Women’s survival post-imprisonment: Connecting imprisonment with pains past and present. Punishment and Society, 13, 551–570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Celinska, K. (2013). The role of family in the lives of incarcerated women. Prison Service Journal, 207, 23–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2012). Suffering at the hands of the state: Conditions of imprisonment and prisoner health in contemporary Greece. European Journal of Criminology, 9, 183–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, C., & Berwick, S. (2001). Factors affecting psychological well-being of three groups of suicide-prone prisoners. Current Psychology, 20, 169–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corston, J. (2007). The Corston report: A report by Baroness Jean Corston of a review of women with particular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system. London: Home Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corston, J. (2011). Women in the penal system: Second report on women with particular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system. London: The Howard League for Penal Reform.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covington, S., & Bloom, B. (2008). Gender-responsive treatment and services in correctional settings. Available at: http://stephaniecovington.com/assets/files/FINALC.pdf. Accessed 16 Jan 2018.

  • Crawley, E., & Sparks, R. (2005). Surviving the prison experience? Imprisonment and the elderly men. Prison Service Journal, 160, 3–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crewe, B. (2011). Depth, weight, tightness: Revisiting the pains of imprisonment. Punishment and Society, 13, 509–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crewe, B., Hulley, S., & Wright, S. (2017). The gendered pains of life imprisonment. British Journal of Criminology, 57, 1359–1378.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crewe, B., Warr, J., Bennett, P., & Smith, A. (2014). The emotional geography of prison life. Theoretical Criminology, 18, 56–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunniffe, C., Van de Kerckhove, R., Williams, K., & Hopkins, K. (2012). Estimating the prevalence of disability amongst prisoners: Results from the surveying prisoner crime reduction (SPCR) survey. London: Ministry of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeHart, D. D. (2008). Pathways to prison: Impact of victimization in the lives of incarcerated women. Violence Against Women, 14, 1362–1381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Viggiani, N. (2007). Unhealthy prisons: Exploring structural determinants of prison health. Sociology of Health & Illness, 29, 115–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Viggiani, N. (2012). Creating a healthy prison: Developing a system wide approach to public health within an English prison. Prison Service Journal, 202, 12–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • DiMatteo, M., Lepper, H., & Croghan, T. (2000). Depression is a risk factor for noncompliance with medical treatment: Meta-analysis of the effects of anxiety and depression on patient adherence. Archives of Internal Medicine, 160, 2101–2107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dooris, M. (2009). Holistic and sustainable health improvement: The contribution of the settings-based approach to health promotion. Perspectives in Public Health, 129, 29–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, N., Plugge, E., & Fitzpatrick, R. (2009). The impact of imprisonment on health: What do women prisoners say? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 63, 749–754.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunne, E. A., & Quayle, E. (2001). The impact of iatrogenically acquired Hepatitis C infection on the well-being and relationships of a group of Irish women. Journal of Health Psychology, 6, 679–692.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fade, S. (2004). Using interpretative phenomenological analysis for public health nutrition and dietetic research: A practical guide. The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 63, 647–653.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fazel, S., Hope, T., O’Donnell, I., Piper, M., & Jacoby, R. (2001). Health of elderly male prisoners: Worse than the general population, worse than younger prisoners. Age and Ageing, 30, 403–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frater, A., & Tan, H. (2016). Women in the criminal justice system in London: A health strategy—Recommendations for action. London: London Health in Justice and Other Vulnerable Adults London Clinical Network (HiJOVA LCN).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelsthorpe, L. (2017). After Corston: Community, challenge and challenges. In L. Moore, P. Scraton, & A. Wahidin (Eds.), Women’s imprisonment and the case for abolition: Critical reflections on Corston ten years on (pp. 31–50). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, C., & McLaughlin, E. (2013). The Sir Jimmy Savile scandal: Child sexual abuse and institutional denial at the BBC. Crime, Media, Culture, 9, 243–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grupe, D. W., & Nitschke, J. B. (2013). Uncertainty and anticipation in anxiety. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14, 488–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haualand, H. (2015). Punished and isolated: Disabled prisoners in Norway. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 17, 74–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawton, K., Linsell, L., Adeniji, T., Sariaslan, A., & Fazel, S. (2014). Self-harm in prisons in England and Wales: An epidemiological study of prevalence, risk factors, clustering, and subsequent suicide. Lancet, 383, 1147–1154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayton, P., & Boyington, J. (2006). Prisons and health reforms in England and Wales. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 1730–1733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedderman, C., & Jolliffe, D. (2015). The impact of prison for women on the edge: Paying the price for wrong decisions. Victims and Offenders, 10, 152–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedderman, C., Palmer, E., & Hollin, C. (2008). Implementing services for women offenders and those ‘at risk’ of offending: Action research with together women (Ministry of Justice Research Series 12/08). London: Ministry of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbert, K., Plugge, E., Foster, C., & Doll, H. (2012). Prevalence of risk factors for non-communicable diseases in prison populations worldwide: A systematic review. Lancet, 379, 1975–1982.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP). (1997). Women in prison: A thematic review by HM chief inspector of prisons. London: Home Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP). (2009). Disabled prisoners: A short thematic review on the care and support prisoners with a disability. London: HM Inspectorate of Prisons.

    Google Scholar 

  • HM Prison Service. (2003). Prison service order 3200: Health promotion. London: Ministry of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hua-Fu, H. (2005). The patterns of masculinity in prison. Critical Criminology, 13, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irwin, J., & Cressey, D. R. (1962). Thieves, convicts and the inmate culture. Social Problems, 10, 142–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jewkes, Y., & Moran, D. (2015). The paradox of the ‘green’ prison: Sustaining the environment or sustaining the penal complex? Theoretical Criminology, 19, 451–469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, L. (2017). Suffering in silence: The unmet needs of d/Deaf prisoners. Prison Service Journal, 234, 3–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, N. (2014). An interpretative phenomenological analysis of prisoners’ experience of riotous behaviour in an adult male prison. Journal of Forensic Practice, 16, 203–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Price, R. H., & Wortman, C. B. (1985). Social factors in psychopathology: Stress, social support, and coping processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 36, 531–572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kruttschnitt, C., & Gartner, R. (2005). Marking time in the golden state: Women’s imprisonment in California. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levenson, J. (2002). Prison overcrowding: The inside story. London: Prison Reform Trust.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liebling, A. (1992). Suicides in prison. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liebling, A. (2008). Incentives and earned privileges revisited: Fairness, discretion, and the quality of prison life. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention, 9, 25–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindemuth, A. L. (2007). Designing therapeutic environments for inmates and prison staff in the United States: Precedents and contemporary applications. Journal of Mediterranean Ecology, 8, 87–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann, N. (2016). Older age, harder time: Ageing and imprisonment. In Y. Jewkes, J. Bennett, & B. Crewe (Eds.), Handbook on prisons (2nd ed., pp. 514–528). London: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Meek, R. (2007). The experiences of a young Gypsy-traveller in the transition from custody to community: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 12, 133–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meek, R. (2008). Experiences of younger siblings of young men in prison. Children and Society, 22, 265–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meek, R. (2014). Sport in prison: Exploring the role of physical activity in correctional settings. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meek, R., Champion, N., & Klier, S. (2012). Fit for release: How sports-based learning can help prisoners engage in education, gain employment and desist from crime. London: Prison Education Trust.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meek, R., & Lewis, G. E. (2014). Promoting well-being and desistance through sport and physical activity: The opportunities and barriers experienced by women in English prisons. Women and Criminal Justice, 24, 151–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Justice. (2013). Gendered differences in substance misuse and mental health amongst prisoners: Results from Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction (SPCR) longitudinal cohort study of prisoners. London: Ministry of Justice. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220060/gender-substance-misuse-mental-health-prisoners.pdf. Accessed 16 Jan 2018.

  • Ministry of Justice. (2016). Prison safety and reform. London: Ministry of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Justice. (2017). Safety in custody statistics bulletin, England and Wales. Deaths in prison custody to March 2017, assaults and self-harm to December 2016. London: Ministry of Justice. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/611187/safety-in-custody-statistics-q4-2016.pdf. Accessed 16 Jan 2018.

  • Moore, L., Scraton, P., & Wahidin, A. (2017). Introduction. In L. Moore, P. Scraton, & A. Wahidin (Eds.), Women’s imprisonment and the case for abolition: Critical reflections on Corston ten years on (pp. 1–9). London: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Moussavi, S., Chatterji, S., Verdes, E., Tandon, A., Patel, V., & Ustun, B. (2007). Depression, chronic diseases, and decrements in health: Results from the World Health Surveys. Lancet, 370, 851–858.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Offender Management Service. (2015). Incentives and earned privileges, PSI 30/2013. London: National Offender Management Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, J., Kilroy, D., & Hirst, J. (2009). Women, health and prisons in Australia. In D. C. Hatton & A. A. Fisher (Eds.), Women prisoners and health justice (pp. 45–54). Abingdon: Radcliffe Publishing Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penal Reform International. (2012). United Nations rules in the treatment of women prisoners and non-custodial measures for women offenders (The Bangkok Rules). Available at: https://www.penalreform.org/priorities/women-in-the-criminal-justice-system/bangkok-rules-2/. Accessed 16 Jan 2018.

  • Plugge, E., Douglas, N., & Fitzpatrick, R. (2006). The health of women in prison: Study findings. Oxford: Department of Public Health, University of Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plugge, E., & Fitzpatrick, R. (2005). Assessing the health of women in prison: A study from the United Kingdom. Health Care for Women International, 26, 62–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plugge, E., Yudkin, P., & Douglas, N. (2009). Changes in women’s use of illicit drugs following imprisonment. Addiction, 104, 215–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollock, J. M. (1998). Counselling women in prison. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pridgeon, L., & Grogan, S. (2012). Understanding exercise adherence and dropout: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of men and women’s accounts of gym attendance and non-attendance. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 4, 382–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prison and Probation Ombudsman. (2013). Learning lessons bulletin: Fatal incidents investigation issue 4. London: Prison and Probation Ombudsman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prison Reform Trust. (2014). Punishment without purpose: The Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme and its impact on fairness, decency and rehabilitation behind bars. London: Prison Reform Trust.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, A. (2011). Narratives of self and identity in women’s prisons: Stigma and the struggle for self-definition in penal regimes. Punishment and Society, 13, 571–591.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, A. (2016). “Tactics”, agency and power in women’s prisons. British Journal of Criminology, 56, 332–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabo, D. F., Kupers, T. A., & London, W. J. (Eds.). (2001). Prison masculinities. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheehan, R., McIvor, G., & Trotter, C. (2013). Women prisoners and their children. In R. Sheehan, G. McIvor, & C. Trotter (Eds.), What works with women offenders (pp. 214–239). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singleton, N., Bumpstead, R., O’Brien, M., Lee, A., & Meltzer, H. (2001). Psychiatric morbidity among adults living in private households. London: HMSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singleton, N., Meltzer, H., & Gatward, R. (1998). Psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales. London: Office for National Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, C. (2000). ‘Healthy prisons’: A contradiction in terms? The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 39, 339–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. A. (1996). Beyond the divide between cognition and discourse: Using interpretative phenomenological analysis in health psychology. Psychology and Health, 11, 261–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. A. (2011). Evaluating the contribution of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Health Psychology Review, 5, 9–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Social Exclusion Unit. (2002). Reducing reoffending by ex-prisoners. London: Cabinet Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steffensmeier, D., & Allen, E. (1998). The nature of female offending: Patterns and explanations. In R. Zaplin (Ed.), Female offenders: Critical perspectives and effective interventions (pp. 5–29). Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sykes, G. M. (1958). The society of captives: A study of a maximum security prison. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Völlm, B. A., & Dolan, M. C. (2009). Self-harm among UK female prisoners: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, 20, 741–751.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward, D. A., & Kassebaum, G. G. (1965). Women’s prison: Sex and social structure. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willmott, D. (2009). Advocacy. In D. C. Hatton & A. A. Fisher (Eds.), Women prisoners and health justice (pp. 117–126). Abingdon: Radcliffe Publishing Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wingood, G. M., DiClemente, R. J., & Raj, A. (2000). Adverse consequences of intimate partner abuse among women in non-urban domestic violence shelters. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 19, 270–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Women in Prison. (2017). The Corston report 10 years on: How far have we come on the road to reform for women affected by the criminal justice system? London: Women in Prison.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodall, J. (2012). Health promoting prisons: An overview and critique of the concept. Prison Service Journal, 202, 6–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodall, J. (2016). A critical examination of the health promoting prison two decades on. Critical Public Health, 26, 615–621.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodall, J., Dixey, R., & South, J. (2014). Control and choice in English prisons: Developing health-promoting prisons. Health Promotion International, 29, 474–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (1998). Report of the third meeting of the European health in prisons project. Geneva: World Health Organisation.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK

    Anastasia Jablonska & Rosie Meek

Authors
  1. Anastasia Jablonska
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rosie Meek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anastasia Jablonska .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Alice Mills

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Kathleen Kendall

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Jablonska, A., Meek, R. (2018). ‘There Was No Understanding, There Was No Care, There Was No Looking After Me’: The Impact of the Prison Environment on the Mental Health of Female Prisoners. In: Mills, A., Kendall, K. (eds) Mental Health in Prisons. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94090-8_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94090-8_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94089-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94090-8

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation