Psychology reflective essay free essay sample

Any act where a  prisoner deliberately harms themselves irrespecve of the method, intent or severity of any injury† †¢? In 2011- ­? 12 over 27,000 self- ­? harm incidents, involving almost 7,000 prisoners †¢? 7% of male prisoners †¢? 9% of male young o? enders †¢? 30% of female prisoners †¢? 4- ­? 12 mes higher than in the general populaon 2 13/02/2014 England and Wales: 2004- ­? 2009 †¢? 139,195 self- ­? harm episodes †¢? Involving 26,150 prisoners †¢? 5- ­? 6% of male prisoners †¢? 20- ­? 24% of female prisoners Repe55on of self- ­? harm More than 100 episodes / year: Ra5o of self- ­? harm episodes / prisoners 10 9 8 †¢? 2 male prisoners 7 6 †¢? 102 female Prisoners Ra5o 5 4 3 2 1 †¢? 17,307 episodes (26% of total number in female prisoners) 0 2004 2005 2006 Males 2007 2008 2009 Females Counselling in prisons Vigne^es †¢? Ethics – risk, con? denality and the health of the therapist †¢? Security †¢? Who is the client? †¢? Can prison be a therapeuc environment? †¢? What are the e? ects of imprisonment? 3 13/02/2014 What is life in prison like? â€Å"Prisoners su? er the ulmate ignominy of banishment to an uncongenial instuon, which is oBen overcrowded, where friends cannot be chosen, and physical condions are Spartan. Above all, they are all by the process of imprisonment, separated Form everything familiar, including all their social supports and loved ones†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Gunn, 1996: 5) Long-term psychological effects Cohen and Taylor (1972) Prisoners in a maximum security prison have an almost obsessive fear of deterioration â€Å"These men felt that all around them were examples of people who had turned into cabbages because they had not been sufficiently vigilant† (p. 56) Irwin (1980) Prisons degrade, embitter, cripple and dehumanise prisoners Pains of imprisonment vs. ‘deep freeze’ paradigm A queson of methods? †¢? â€Å"We do not discount the importance of phenomenology in assessing prison life †¦ But, if we stray too Far from epistemic values that are crucial to a vigorous social science then we run the risk of making disastrous policy decisions† (Bonta Gendreau, 1990) †¢? What counts as ‘good’ evidence? †¢? When and how should we measure pain and deterioraon? †¢? Crique of ‘harm- ­? as- ­? deterioraon’ paradigm †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? Cross- ­? seconal studies, short follow- ­? up periods Focus on male long- ­? term prisoners Linear vs. curvilinear e? ects â€Å"pain is a harm which psychological scales have so far failed to re? ect† (Liebling and Maruna, 2005: 12) †¢? Need more longitudinal and mixed method research The Pains of Imprisonment Sykes (1958) †¢? deprivation of liberty †¢? deprivation of goods and services †¢? deprivation of heterosexual relationships †¢? deprivation of autonomy †¢? deprivation of personal security Each â€Å"carries a more profound hurt as a set of threats or attacks which are directed against the very foundation of the prisoner’s being. The individual’s picture of himself as a person of value †¦ begins to waver and grow dim† (p. 78-9) Exaggerations? Walker (1987) - ­? â€Å"research – chie? y by psychologists – has done much to de? ate the sweeping exaggeraons – chie? y by sociologists – about the ill e? ects of normal incarceraon† Bonta and Genreau (1990) †¢? Meta- ­? analyc review of quantave research into crowding, solitary con? nement, short- ­? term con? nement long- ­? term imprisonment. †¢? â€Å"the empirical data we reviewed quesons the validity of the view that imprisonment is universally painful† (p. 365) †¢? imprisonment may have the fortuitous bene? t of isolang the o? ender from a highly risky lifestyle in the community (p 357). When is imprisonment painful? Bukstel and Kilmann (1980) †¢? The process of adaptation to prison (including patterns of Custody†¦ indeed, prison may provide an opportunity for o? enders previously leading chaoc lifestyles to seHle into a stable roune and engage with services† (p. 79) †¢? Is T1 a valid baseline? †¢? Is T3 too early? †¢? What happens later in the sentence and/or aTer release? †¢? Can/should we look for general pa^erns? â€Å"Some people do experience a decline in mental health in prison. These individuals are more likely to be female, on remand, have pre- ­? exisng severe and enduring mental illness or some combinaon of these factors† (Ibid. ) 5 13/02/2014 Prison climate (Liebling, 2004) Summing up †¦ †¢? It is broadly accepted that. Imprisonment can be painful, especially in overcrowded condions †¢? Parcularly under these circumstances, prison can lead â€Å"to an acute worsening of mental health problems† (Joint Commi^ee on Human Rights, 2005: para. 4. 99) Well- ­? being Respect Humanity Safety Rela5onships Order Trust Support Fairness Personal development Decency Family contact Meaning Prisoner social life Power/authority †¢? The high rates of suicides and self- ­? harm in prisons may be viewed as evidence that ‘doing me’ is stressful and damaging for many prisoners †¢? Nevertheless, â€Å"there is li^le to support the conclusion that long term imprisonment necessarily. Has detrimental e? ects† (emphasis added, Bonta and Gendreau, 1990: 357) †¢? Short- ­? term impact– psychological and otherwise †¢? Praccal, health, socio- ­? economic and relaonal consequences for prisoners and their families Supporting prisoners’ well- ­? being †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? First night centres/packs Safer Locals Personal o? cer schemes Access to Samaritans’ phones and counselling Peer support and mentoring (including listener schemes) Chaplaincy Cell- ­? sharing risk assessment Equivalence of health care Purposeful acvity encouraged Educaon O? ending Behaviour Drug Rehabilitaon Programmes Family. Visits days Charity support services (e. g. foreign naonals) Focus on rese^lement/building links with community services Should prison aim to be a therapeutic environment? Crique of the ‘therapunive rhetoric’ â€Å"Although in themselves the psychological programmes are most probably harmless [†¦ they] actually cause harm because they suggest to women that they should be able to control their responses to adverse material circumstances over which, in fact, they have no control† (Carlen, 2006: 7) Legimising the use of imprisonment E? ecveness, feasibility and ethics of ‘voluntary’ psychological therapies and intervenons – and. Costs involved Warehousing? Being a prison counsellor â€Å"Some argue it may be useless and even unethical to provide psychotherapy within the prison system, as the environment migates against therapeuc change. Who is the counsellor working for? For the prison system? The client? The NHS? Society? Her/himself? Perhaps the counsellor is working for a putave future vicm. And what are the necessary condions for e? ecve psychotherapy? Con? denality is a prime ingredient of the therapeuc relaonship: how might the issue of client con? denality work within the prison system? † (Pars, n. d. ) â€Å"†¦I needed to be adaptable yet. Aware of the importance of maintaining the frame and boundary of the therapeuc relaonship. On a typical visit I would be escorted up to the Visits Hall †¦ I would see my clients in a small booths (about six feet square) where con? denality was clearly an issue. We could be seen by most people in the hall and potenally overheard by anyone in an adjacent booth. This could be a source of distracon and somemes concern for my clients. I enquired as to whether there might be a more suitable room available, but was told that due to the overcrowding there was a serious shortage of space. It was this or nothing. I felt that this Was indeed be^er than nothing†¦ 6 13/02/2014 Inially, the biggest impression was how desperate people were to tell their stories. Many of them had never con? ded their childhood abuse. A large number of them were scared to tell anyone what had happened because of the received wisdom that to be abused means they will probably abuse. So for any other inmate to ?nd out they were talking to a sexual- ­? abuse counsellor could have various unpleasant consequences. I was also aware that prison is not necessarily the best place to explore di? cult feelings, open up and potenally make oneself vulnerable. This was an ongoing problem. Was it fair, or even ethical, to ask anyone to go through counselling within such an environment? I thought (and think) it was. The conclusion I came to aTer working with a number of inmates for over four years, was that a large percentage of the prison populaon were traumased in childhood by some form of abuse: sexual, physical or psychological†¦ For these people, counselling can be of great bene? t. Many of them have never experienced a warm, posive, non- ­? judgmental relaonship and the experience of one can empower them and teach them empathy (some of my clients became Listeners aTer a few months of counselling). †