International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 2003
This study examines female inmates' utilisation of and satisfaction with provision of health... more This study examines female inmates' utilisation of and satisfaction with provision of health services, based on data from the 1996 New South Wales (Australia) Inmate Health Survey. Particular variables indigenous status, mean age, age range, and education level were ...
In The Health of Nations: Towards a New Political Economy, Gavin Mooney strongly argues that more... more In The Health of Nations: Towards a New Political Economy, Gavin Mooney strongly argues that more can be done to improve peoples’ health in both developing and developed countries. One central way forward provided is for governments to replace market-led ‘neoliberal’ policies with community-led policies. An important component in building this case involves understanding health care as a social institution and health in terms of its social determinants. This in turn suggests the need for a critically informed assessment and determination of the principles and priorities in health care policy, best provided by the community. In recognition of this need, Gavin’s Citizens Jury work, in part, sought to challenge assumptions that communities of lay people are unable to provide sophisticated policy advice on broad, complex and contentious issues. This article documents and reflects on Gavin’s last Citizens Jury, highlighting links between the social understandings and political economies of health and incarceration. A brief overview of Gavin’s Citizens Juries work is provided, together with discussion of insights gained for improving methodology for future studies. In the months before his tragic death Gavin was involved in research to test the Citizens Jury approach for exploring the public’s views on the treatment of offenders. Given the emotive nature of such a topic, this Citizens Jury provided a pertinent test of the community’s ability to provide sophisticated advice on a complex policy issue.
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Jan 1, 2003
This study examines female inmates' utilisation of and satisfaction with provision of health... more This study examines female inmates' utilisation of and satisfaction with provision of health services, based on data from the 1996 New South Wales (Australia) Inmate Health Survey. Particular variables indigenous status, mean age, age range, and education level were ...
National population surveys of attitudes towards sexual issues typically exclude prisoners and li... more National population surveys of attitudes towards sexual issues typically exclude prisoners and little is known about their attitudes compared with the community. Using computer-assisted telephone interviews, we compared a representative sample of 2289 prisoners (men=1960, women=329), aged 18-59 years, from two Australian states against a national community sample of 6755 participants (men=3333, women=3421). Overall, prisoners were slightly more conservative in their attitudes towards sex than the community. They were more likely than the community to agree with the statement that abortion is wrong (men: adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=3.3, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.8-3.9; women: AOR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.2-2.4) and that male homosexuality is wrong (men: AOR=2.6, 95% CI: 2.2-3.1; women: AOR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.2-2.3); these differences were more pronounced for men than women. The attitudes of prisoners and the community varied with age. Attitudinal differences between prisoners and the community tended to be larger than the differences between women and men (agree that abortion is wrong: prisoners, AOR=0.5, 95% CI: 0.4-0.7; community, AOR=0.8, 95% CI: 0.7-0.9; agree that male homosexuality is wrong: prisoners, AOR=0.4, 95% CI: 0.3-0.5; community, AOR=0.6, 95% CI: 0.5-0.7). Prisoners have either similar or less accepting attitudes towards sex than the general population. These attitudes contrast with the higher engagement in risk behaviours reported by prisoners.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2008
The association between temperament and drug use or temperament and psychopathology has previousl... more The association between temperament and drug use or temperament and psychopathology has previously been restricted to community clinical or non-clinical samples. The aim of the present study was therefore to examine these associations in a large cohort of Australian offenders using Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). A total of 1322 prisoners from New South Wales (NSW) who completed all dimensions of the TCI and were screened for mental illness using the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing were included in the study. A total of 15% of the sample fulfilled the criteria for a diagnosis for depression, 36% for anxiety disorders and 54% for a substance abuse disorder. Using logistic regression analysis, the TCI dimensions of harm-avoidance and low self-direction predicted depression. Being female, a poly-substance user and having high harm-avoidance, persistence, self-direction and self-transcendence predicted anxiety disorders. Significant stepped trends across age, gender, and type of drug use were found for all TCI dimensions. The TCI is useful in identifying prisoners with a history of psychopathology and substance misuse. This tool also provides clinically relevant information about at-risk individuals and has the potential to guide the development of intervention programmes for inmates.
Aim: To compare rates of past reported traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a prisoner sample with tho... more Aim: To compare rates of past reported traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a prisoner sample with those in a control group drawn from the same location of usual residence. Method: The prisoner group comprised a consecutive sample of men (n 1⁄4 200) received into custody and screened by face- to-face interview. The control group comprised men (n1⁄4200) matched for location of usual residence screened by telephone interview. Participants were asked about past TBIs and screened for drug and alcohol abuse, impulsivity and dissocial personality disorder. Results: Eighty-two per cent of prisoners and 71.5% of community participants reported at least one past TBI of any severity (i.e. with or without a loss of consciousness (LOC)) and 64.5% of prisoners and 32.2% of community participants reported at least one TBI associated with a LOC. Prisoners were more likely to report persisting side-effects of TBI and were much more likely to screen positive for impulsivity and dissocial personality disorder. Multivariate analyses found no significant association between TBI frequency or severity and custody/community group membership. Conclusions: High reported rates of TBI in prisoner populations may reflect the excess of socio-demographic risk factors for TBI. Results of the current study do not support a role for TBI as causally related to criminal conduct.
Male prison rape and sexual assaults remains a serious and sensitive issue in many countries. Hum... more Male prison rape and sexual assaults remains a serious and sensitive issue in many countries. Human rights groups claim that sexual assaults among male prisoners have reached pandemic proportions and need to be stopped. Researchers for many years have studied the causes of male sexual assault in prison and offered numerous recommendations on its prevention. Few, however, have presented evidence for a decline in male prisoner sexual assaults and investigated the reasons for the decline. This article provides evidence from population-based surveys of a steady decrease in male prisoner sexual assaults in New South Wales (NSW) between 1996 and 2009. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with former and current inmates, and using a "systems" approach they discuss the complexity of sexual assaults in prison, incorporating a multiplicity of perspectives. In particular, they bring together different sources of data and discuss this in relation to changes in power structures and control in a modern prison, the attitudes of older and younger prisoners, the concept of "duty of care," introduction of prison drug programs, and prisoner attitudes toward gender and sexuality. In anthropology, the term "system" is used widely for describing sociocultural phenomena of a given society in a holistic manner without reducing the complexity of a given community.
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 2003
This study examines female inmates' utilisation of and satisfaction with provision of health... more This study examines female inmates' utilisation of and satisfaction with provision of health services, based on data from the 1996 New South Wales (Australia) Inmate Health Survey. Particular variables indigenous status, mean age, age range, and education level were ...
In The Health of Nations: Towards a New Political Economy, Gavin Mooney strongly argues that more... more In The Health of Nations: Towards a New Political Economy, Gavin Mooney strongly argues that more can be done to improve peoples’ health in both developing and developed countries. One central way forward provided is for governments to replace market-led ‘neoliberal’ policies with community-led policies. An important component in building this case involves understanding health care as a social institution and health in terms of its social determinants. This in turn suggests the need for a critically informed assessment and determination of the principles and priorities in health care policy, best provided by the community. In recognition of this need, Gavin’s Citizens Jury work, in part, sought to challenge assumptions that communities of lay people are unable to provide sophisticated policy advice on broad, complex and contentious issues. This article documents and reflects on Gavin’s last Citizens Jury, highlighting links between the social understandings and political economies of health and incarceration. A brief overview of Gavin’s Citizens Juries work is provided, together with discussion of insights gained for improving methodology for future studies. In the months before his tragic death Gavin was involved in research to test the Citizens Jury approach for exploring the public’s views on the treatment of offenders. Given the emotive nature of such a topic, this Citizens Jury provided a pertinent test of the community’s ability to provide sophisticated advice on a complex policy issue.
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Jan 1, 2003
This study examines female inmates' utilisation of and satisfaction with provision of health... more This study examines female inmates' utilisation of and satisfaction with provision of health services, based on data from the 1996 New South Wales (Australia) Inmate Health Survey. Particular variables indigenous status, mean age, age range, and education level were ...
National population surveys of attitudes towards sexual issues typically exclude prisoners and li... more National population surveys of attitudes towards sexual issues typically exclude prisoners and little is known about their attitudes compared with the community. Using computer-assisted telephone interviews, we compared a representative sample of 2289 prisoners (men=1960, women=329), aged 18-59 years, from two Australian states against a national community sample of 6755 participants (men=3333, women=3421). Overall, prisoners were slightly more conservative in their attitudes towards sex than the community. They were more likely than the community to agree with the statement that abortion is wrong (men: adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=3.3, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.8-3.9; women: AOR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.2-2.4) and that male homosexuality is wrong (men: AOR=2.6, 95% CI: 2.2-3.1; women: AOR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.2-2.3); these differences were more pronounced for men than women. The attitudes of prisoners and the community varied with age. Attitudinal differences between prisoners and the community tended to be larger than the differences between women and men (agree that abortion is wrong: prisoners, AOR=0.5, 95% CI: 0.4-0.7; community, AOR=0.8, 95% CI: 0.7-0.9; agree that male homosexuality is wrong: prisoners, AOR=0.4, 95% CI: 0.3-0.5; community, AOR=0.6, 95% CI: 0.5-0.7). Prisoners have either similar or less accepting attitudes towards sex than the general population. These attitudes contrast with the higher engagement in risk behaviours reported by prisoners.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2008
The association between temperament and drug use or temperament and psychopathology has previousl... more The association between temperament and drug use or temperament and psychopathology has previously been restricted to community clinical or non-clinical samples. The aim of the present study was therefore to examine these associations in a large cohort of Australian offenders using Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). A total of 1322 prisoners from New South Wales (NSW) who completed all dimensions of the TCI and were screened for mental illness using the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing were included in the study. A total of 15% of the sample fulfilled the criteria for a diagnosis for depression, 36% for anxiety disorders and 54% for a substance abuse disorder. Using logistic regression analysis, the TCI dimensions of harm-avoidance and low self-direction predicted depression. Being female, a poly-substance user and having high harm-avoidance, persistence, self-direction and self-transcendence predicted anxiety disorders. Significant stepped trends across age, gender, and type of drug use were found for all TCI dimensions. The TCI is useful in identifying prisoners with a history of psychopathology and substance misuse. This tool also provides clinically relevant information about at-risk individuals and has the potential to guide the development of intervention programmes for inmates.
Aim: To compare rates of past reported traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a prisoner sample with tho... more Aim: To compare rates of past reported traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a prisoner sample with those in a control group drawn from the same location of usual residence. Method: The prisoner group comprised a consecutive sample of men (n 1⁄4 200) received into custody and screened by face- to-face interview. The control group comprised men (n1⁄4200) matched for location of usual residence screened by telephone interview. Participants were asked about past TBIs and screened for drug and alcohol abuse, impulsivity and dissocial personality disorder. Results: Eighty-two per cent of prisoners and 71.5% of community participants reported at least one past TBI of any severity (i.e. with or without a loss of consciousness (LOC)) and 64.5% of prisoners and 32.2% of community participants reported at least one TBI associated with a LOC. Prisoners were more likely to report persisting side-effects of TBI and were much more likely to screen positive for impulsivity and dissocial personality disorder. Multivariate analyses found no significant association between TBI frequency or severity and custody/community group membership. Conclusions: High reported rates of TBI in prisoner populations may reflect the excess of socio-demographic risk factors for TBI. Results of the current study do not support a role for TBI as causally related to criminal conduct.
Male prison rape and sexual assaults remains a serious and sensitive issue in many countries. Hum... more Male prison rape and sexual assaults remains a serious and sensitive issue in many countries. Human rights groups claim that sexual assaults among male prisoners have reached pandemic proportions and need to be stopped. Researchers for many years have studied the causes of male sexual assault in prison and offered numerous recommendations on its prevention. Few, however, have presented evidence for a decline in male prisoner sexual assaults and investigated the reasons for the decline. This article provides evidence from population-based surveys of a steady decrease in male prisoner sexual assaults in New South Wales (NSW) between 1996 and 2009. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with former and current inmates, and using a "systems" approach they discuss the complexity of sexual assaults in prison, incorporating a multiplicity of perspectives. In particular, they bring together different sources of data and discuss this in relation to changes in power structures and control in a modern prison, the attitudes of older and younger prisoners, the concept of "duty of care," introduction of prison drug programs, and prisoner attitudes toward gender and sexuality. In anthropology, the term "system" is used widely for describing sociocultural phenomena of a given society in a holistic manner without reducing the complexity of a given community.
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Method: The prisoner group comprised a consecutive sample of men (n 1⁄4 200) received into custody and screened by face- to-face interview. The control group comprised men (n1⁄4200) matched for location of usual residence screened by telephone interview. Participants were asked about past TBIs and screened for drug and alcohol abuse, impulsivity and dissocial personality disorder.
Results: Eighty-two per cent of prisoners and 71.5% of community participants reported at least one past TBI of any severity (i.e. with or without a loss of consciousness (LOC)) and 64.5% of prisoners and 32.2% of community participants reported at least one TBI associated with a LOC. Prisoners were more likely to report persisting side-effects of TBI and were much more likely to screen positive for impulsivity and dissocial personality disorder. Multivariate analyses found no significant association between TBI frequency or severity and custody/community group membership.
Conclusions: High reported rates of TBI in prisoner populations may reflect the excess of socio-demographic risk factors for TBI. Results of the current study do not support a role for TBI as causally related to criminal conduct.
Method: The prisoner group comprised a consecutive sample of men (n 1⁄4 200) received into custody and screened by face- to-face interview. The control group comprised men (n1⁄4200) matched for location of usual residence screened by telephone interview. Participants were asked about past TBIs and screened for drug and alcohol abuse, impulsivity and dissocial personality disorder.
Results: Eighty-two per cent of prisoners and 71.5% of community participants reported at least one past TBI of any severity (i.e. with or without a loss of consciousness (LOC)) and 64.5% of prisoners and 32.2% of community participants reported at least one TBI associated with a LOC. Prisoners were more likely to report persisting side-effects of TBI and were much more likely to screen positive for impulsivity and dissocial personality disorder. Multivariate analyses found no significant association between TBI frequency or severity and custody/community group membership.
Conclusions: High reported rates of TBI in prisoner populations may reflect the excess of socio-demographic risk factors for TBI. Results of the current study do not support a role for TBI as causally related to criminal conduct.