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People in prisons

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People in prisons

The primary goal of prisons is to make certain that the rules of society are enforced by implementing rehabilitative and punitive processes. The prisons are tasked with the responsibility of preserving the safety of the general population as they pick the effective punitive sentences to various offenders (Burkhardt, & Jones, 2016). Nonetheless, the process of rehabilitation of offenders is a crucial outcome that is entrusted to the prisons with a primary goal of reducing the rates of recidivism which is high and the offenders turning into law-abiding citizens. When it comes to the private and the public prisons, an important aspect of both is ignored which is the prisoners. When doing a comparison of the two types of prisons, the main issue to be focused on should be the prisoners and how effective is the rehabilitative service offered to him or her (Reiman, & Leighton, 2015). Although the type of rehabilitation could highly depend on the scope, nature, and resources available in the prison, the health of the prisoners should not be compromised at any point and especially the mental health which has been noted to be on the rise in the prisons. Among the developed countries, USA has been noted to have a high rate of incarceration and especially of those with mental disorders. As such the following research will have its focus on USA prisons.

A study done on 12 western countries proved that there is a concern about the number of people living with mental disorders in prisons. Among females, 4% was proved to have psychosis illness, 42% personality disorder, and 12 % major depression. Among males, 3.7% psychotic illnesses, 47% had an antisocial personality disorder and 10% had major depression (Cloyes, Wong, Latimer, & Abarca, 2010). Other mental disorders noted from a significant number included anxiety disorders, suicidal behaviors, organic disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among others.

Various studies have argued that the mental health system has deinstitutionalized and as such resulted in having people with mental disorders incarcerated at high rates resulting in correctional institutions turning into de facto state hospitals (Burkhardt, & Jones, 2016). Other studies have argued that the high rates are associated with the misconceptions in the society that people with mental disorders pose a danger to the general public and poor rehabilitation in the prisons. Various factors in the prisons have also been attributed to the deteriorating mental state of the prisoners such as overcrowding, lack of privacy, forced isolation, lack of meaningful activities, among others (Harner, & Riley, 2013). However, when comparing the private and the public prisons and how they tend to the mentally ill, there has been noted to be a big disparity between the two. The following research seeks to explore how private prisons affect an inmate’s health versus the public prison. The issue is crucial in criminal justice since every person deserves fair treatment in terms of seeking parole and similar services. However, for the mentally ill, they are less likely to make bail, make parole, they are more likely to face longer sentences and they are more likely to commit suicide (Reiman, & Leighton, 2015). The research is important since it should be a point of reference to similar studies in the future as well as inform the authorities involved in setting reforms involved in the healthcare of the inmates.

Research questions.

How is the quality of rehabilitation in the private and public prisons connected to the deteriorating mental health of inmates?

How does the prison environment and culture affect the mental state of inmates?

How does the form of leadership in the private and public prison affect the form of rehabilitation offered to the inmates and their mental health?

Literature review

The issue of the mental state of inmates has been widely researched. However the particular issue of the differences in how private and public prisons affect inmates is not widely researched and as a result, minimal data is available. Previous studies done to compare the quality of services offered in both private and public prisons show that private institutions have better services including healthcare of the inmates due to the dedicated resources when compared with the public institutions (Burkhardt, & Jones, 2016). In other studies, private prisons have been said to report fewer cases of mental issues of their inmates when compared to public prisons. Other studies, however, argue that the quality of services in public and private prisons is equal. The following literature review is informed by the deprivation theory and the situational theory (Wikström, & Treiber, 2016). The deprivation theory argues that when a prisoner is subjected to an environment that is restrictive, there are various basic needs that are not satisfied, and as such, the inmate goes unsatisfied. The inmate hence adapts to the situation by using maladaptive behaviors to meet the unsatisfied needs. The situational theory argues that social and architectural determinants can influence the perception of one’s experiences and result in the likelihood of the individual engaging in violence.

The ideal reason for having prisons was to make the complete incapacitation more humane and as such, prisons remain to be widely used as forms of punishment (Reiman, & Leighton, 2015). They punish the individual psychologically with the hope that the individual will turn from the behaviors that had brought them there initially. Depending on the culture within which prison is situated, the impacts on the inmate by the prison vary immensely in different cultures (Van der Helm, Stams, & Van der Laan, 2011). However, various features remain similar regardless of the location of the prison. Such features include isolation, confinement, loss of privacy, strict control, and low levels of brain stimulation that eventually leads to boredom (Harner, & Riley, 2013). The life of prison, whether private or public have been noted to be challenging and especially since individuals have to adapt to a new lifestyle that they were not exposed to before (D’Amico, 2010). As such, various studies have linked the cultural and social structure of the prison to mental health issues of inmates.

Public prisons have been said to be open to scrutiny and examination from the public and as such, the leaders have to ensure that they remain accountable in how they offer their services to the inmates which include mental health (Van der Helm, Stams, & Van der Laan, 2011). On the other hand, private institutions have been said to benefit from the wellbeing of the prisoners and hence treat the prisoners as profit-making products that have to be treated with utmost care if profits are to be achieved. The question then arises, on how mental cases tend to be high yet both public and private prisons are on the lookout either for profits or from the watchdogs such as the department of justice. In an attempt to answer this, Duwe, & Clark, (2013) found that private institutions are more likely to report issues on mental illness compared to public prisons. They further stated that even though private institutions have the capability of choosing people with less mental issues, they also try and save on cost, hence employing less qualified staffs and as such the state of rehabilitation given to the inmates is poor which leads to more mental cases from the private institutions.

Sampling methodology

Various methods are used in research to gain data intended for answering the research questions. The methods include a qualitative method, and which emphasizes on expounding on non-numerical data. The method is more subjective to fewer numbers but focuses on more interviews (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, Booij, & Verckens, 2011). A quantitative method, which is more objective and deals with collection and analyzing statistics, counting, and measuring variables. This method seeks to evaluate evidence and clarify theories and hypotheses. The last one is the mixed-method research, which deals with a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The following research aims at answering how private prisons affect the mental illness of inmates versus the public prisons and as such a mixed-method would be effective. The research would hence use data from previous studies, use case studies, and conduct interviews to determine how the prisons affect inmates’ mental health as well as observation. A mixed-method approach provides wealthy data when compared with the other methods.

Design methodology

The strategy to use during research is usually defined by the nature of the study and the strategy could be either descriptive or explanatory. The sampling methodology defines the strategy to be used for it is closely related to the design methodology. The primary strategies to be sued in design methodology include grounded theory, experiments, action research, case study, ethnography, and survey (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, Booij, & Verckens, 2011). Research design can be referred to as a plan used to explore research questions to draw conclusions for the research. For the case of this research, a descriptive design would be effective. It also intends to rely on existing documents and observation in search of explaining as to why something is the way it is, which is well carried out using the ground theory and use of case studies. Case studies can be used to explore, explain, and describe events, providing a deep understanding from multiple data sources.

Data analysis plan

Mixed-method research applies both qualitative and quantitative research methods and hence when it comes to analyzing the data obtained procedure for both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, Booij, & Verckens, 2011). When it comes to analyzing quantitative research methods, statistical techniques such as SPSS, a statistical analysis software are effective. The data from the qualitative method will be analyzed using content analysis, a tool used in the analysis of qualitative data from various sources such as interviews and observations.

Risks and benefits

Risk has been defined as a combination of magnitude and probability of some future harm (Oliver.et., al 2012). Risks have been categorized as high or low, depending on their likelihood of occurring, and how serious they can be to the victim. When it comes to research involving human subjects, risk has been termed as a central organizing principle, and the researcher must try to avoid them by following the right protocols. IRB (institutional review board), is entrusted with reviewing the magnitude of risk and prohibit research if the risk involved is high or providing the researcher with the right protection against the risk. The risk associated with the following research is of low magnitude which may include rude responses from inmates. The benefits of the research include identifying the poor mental attention given to inmates and as a result, lead to improved mental care for the present and the future inmates.

Confidentiality

Research projects call for ethics from the researcher and one of the ethics involved is confidentiality. Confidentiality is the situation where the researcher keeps the details of a research subject and their information from being identified by others (Ethicist, 2015). Some of the details regarding the subject include personally identifiable data which is crucial and should not be leaked without the consent of the subject. As a way of maintaining the confidentiality of the subject detail in this research, the researcher must keep their documents secure by using password-protected files, using the old fashioned way of locking the drawers containing files and while on the internet, encrypt any information when sending it. Additionally, the researcher should not copy information of a subject in a way that directly links the information to the respondent but they should use codes to record the information.

Discussion and policy implications

The following research intends to compare the private prisons and how they affect the mental health of the inmates and the public prisons. Based on the literature review, various studies have different arguments on which prison has more cases of mental health. Some argue that public prisons have better mental services and programs that are more likely to improve the mental state of the inmates. Others on the other hand argue that private prisons are better since the inmates are their profit-making products that must be taken care of well if they are to achieve profits, and there is less crowding. However, a majority of the studies have argued that public prisons provide better mental attention to their inmates not only to avoid public scrutiny and being crucified by their watchdogs but also since they have the governments support in terms of fund and they do not have to compromise the health of the inmates. On the other hand, private prisons have been termed to compromise the quality of the workforce they employ as a way of cutting on cost, and hence inmate’s mental situation is at risk in the private prisons.

The following study intends to follow the three main principles of ethics in research which include justice, beneficence, and principle of respect (Lunt, & Fouché, 2010). Additionally, the researcher is expected to maintain the confidentiality of data obtained from the subjects, they should not be violent with the respondents and they should not coerce the respondents to answer what they are not feeling free to answer. Some of the restrictions expected include a lack of permission to research the prisons. In the future, studies should seek to explore identifying what prisons do as a follow up after inmates with mental issues leave their correctional facilities.

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