Hepatitis C virus infection in South Australian prisoners : seroprevalence, seroconversion, and risk factors

Objectives : To determine entry antibody seroprevalence and seroconversion to hepatitis C virus (HCV) and associated risk factors in newly incarcerated prisoners.

Methods : Males and females entering South Australian prisons completed risk factor surveys and were offered HCV-antibody testing. Participants completed additional surveys and, if HCV-negative at last test, underwent further antibody tests at 3-monthly intervals for up to 15 months. Data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate techniques.

Results : HCV seroprevalence among 662 prison entrants was estimated at 42%. Previous injecting history was highly prevalent at entry (64%) and both community and prison injecting independently predicted entry HCV status. Tattooing was not an important risk factor. While community exposure could not be ruled out, three seroconversions were noted in 148 initially HCV-seronegative individuals occurring in a median 121 days – 4.6 per 100 person-years. Prison injecting was infrequently reported, but HCV-seropositive participants were significantly more likely to commence IDU in prison than seronegative participants (p = 0.035).

Conclusions : Entry HCV seroprevalence in South Australian prisoners is extremely high and may have contributed to a ‘ceiling effect’, minimizing the observable seroconversion rate. Greater frequency of injecting among those already infected with HCV represents a significant threat to other prisoners and prison staff.

The meaning of anger for Australian Indigenous offenders : the significance of context

The problem of overrepresentation of Indigenous offenders in Australian prisons highlights the need for effective tertiary intervention programs within correctional settings as a way of reducing Indigenous reincarceration. This study seeks to explore meanings of anger within an Indigenous context that might inform the development of more acceptable and potentially more effective rehabilitation programs. A methodology that acknowledges the importance of narrative, context, and culture was devised to explore how anger as an emotion is understood and experienced by a group of Indigenous men in a South Australian prison. Although some of the major themes reflected experiences of anger common to many offenders, it was evident that for these Indigenous men, anger was experienced within a broad social and political context that imbued the experience of anger with layers of culturally specific meaning. It is suggested that these layers of meaning constitute sufficient difference to warrant further exploration.

Assessing the therapeutic climate of prisons

This study examined perceptions of the prison social climate in two Australian prisons from the perspective of both prison staff and prisoners. Ratings of social climate were compared between a specialist treatment prison that provides intensive rehabilitation programs to violent, sexual, and substance-using offenders and a mainstream prison that does not specialize in offender rehabilitation. The results suggested that staff and prisoners at the specialist treatment prison rated the social climate as more conducive to rehabilitation, although the differences were less pronounced for prisoners. These findings are discussed in relation to the development of specialist therapeutic prisons and how assessments of social climate might inform assessments of their success.

What makes juvenile offenders different from adult offenders?

Historically, children in criminal justice proceedings were treated much the same as adults and subject to the same criminal justice processes as adults. Until the early twentieth century, children in Australia were even subjected to the same penalties as adults, including hard labour and corporal and capital punishment (Carrington & Pereira 2009). Until the mid-nineteenth century, there was no separate category of ’juvenile offender’ in Western legal systems and children as young as six years of age were incarcerated in Australian prisons (Cunneen & White 2007). It is widely acknowledged today, however, both in Australia and internationally, that juveniles should be subject to a system of criminal justice that is separate from the adult system and that recognises their inexperience and immaturity. As such, juveniles are typically dealt with separately from adults and treated less harshly than their adult counterparts. The United Nations’ (1985: 2) Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the ‘Beijing Rules’) stress the importance of nations establishing a set of laws, rules and provisions specifically applicable to juvenile offenders and institutions and bodies entrusted with the functions of the administration of juvenile justice and designed to meet the varying needs of juvenile offenders, while protecting their basic rights. In each Australian jurisdiction, except Queensland, a juvenile is defined as a person aged between 10 and 17 years of age, inclusive. In Queensland, a juvenile is defined as a person aged between 10 and 16 years, inclusive. In all jurisdictions, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 10 years. That is, children under 10 years of age cannot be held legally responsible for their actions.

Imprisoning rationalities

Imprisonment is a growth industry in Australia. Over the past 30–40 years all state and territory jurisdictions have registered massive rises in both the absolute numbers of those imprisoned and the per capita use of imprisonment as a tool of punishment and control. Yet over this period there has been surprisingly little criminological attention to the national picture of imprisonment in Australia and to understanding jurisdictional variation, change and continuity in broader theoretical terms. This article reports initial findings from the Australian Prisons Project, a multi-investigator Australian Research Council funded project intended to trace penal developments in Australia since about 1970. The article begins by outlining the notion of penal culture that provides the analytic lens for the project. It outlines various intersecting areas of study being undertaken before focusing on just three features of the contemporary penal field – restrictions upon presumptions of bail, the rise of post-sentence indefinite detention and the role of supermax confinement. Each in their own way exemplifies an aspect of and contributes to what we conclude to be the revalorization of the prison in Australian culture and society.

Prisoners as Citizens

As prison populations continue to expand across the western world the question of the rights of prisoners has become an increasingly pressing issue, particularly in the light of new human rights discourses. This important new book gives voice to a diverse range of viewpoints arising out of this debate in the Australian context, while the issues raised will have powerful echoes elsewhere. The contributors to this book include the prisoners themselves, human rights activists, academics, criminal justice policy makers and practitioners. Overall the book presents a powerful argument that prisoners do and should have rights in any society that professes to be a democracy, bringing to the fore a debate that society would often prefer to forget.

Signposts that helped a white activist find her way as a critical ally

As a white researcher setting out on a research journeywith Indigenous people, how could I deal with theparadox of being part of the problem I was seeking toaddress? Awareness of, and desire to minimise, theimpact of my white privilege would not automaticallycancel it out. Activist researchers who have challengedpowerful systems have a history of being condemned andostracised by colonial centres of power. Would it be myfate to be condemned by the colonial centre of power inwhich I found myself; the academy? Would I also becondemned by those not in positions of power? Whatsignposts could show me how to act, what to do and howto undertake the research journey?This paper outlines the intersecting theories I meldedtogether to use as a map for a critical activist allystandpoint when conducting research in IndigenousPrisoner Education in Western Australia. Drawing ontheories of whiteness, power, critical pedagogy, activismand standpoint theory, I attempt to navigate a directionthat allows for the struggle, uncertainties and paradoxesthat are what it means to work critically as an alliedactivist. I explore some of the challenges I face as acritical, activist ally who is exploring Indigenouseducation in Western Australian prisons. I invite audiencediscussion, feedback and reflection on these challenges

Education for productive futures: a white woman learning from Aboriginal voices

High incarceration rates of Aboriginal Western Australians leads to between 1800 and 2000 Aboriginal prisoners at any one time. Despite this little is written or noted in Australian peer reviewed academic literature about education provision to Aboriginal prisoners. "Closing the Gap: learning from and privileging Aboriginal voices to learn what helps and hinders educationin WA prisons" is a PhD project nearing submission. It has been conducted in partnership with the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee as we ll as with the support of a local community legalservice. The findings are relevant beyond a prison context.This paper specifically focuses on how understandings of the concept of productivity can differ. Itconsiders what might or might not be helpful in achieving productive educational and trainingoutcomes in Western Australian prisons for Indigenous individuals, families and communities. Itrelies heavily on the words of the author's teachers; the Aboriginal participants in the project alongside Indigenous authors and academics. The paper concludes by considering implications for developing and evaluating training programs in more flexible ways that respect diversity.

Faster than the speed of white (noise): potential pressure points in research partnerships and processes

White noise occurs in the thinking, decision making and communication of dominant Settler cultures. It inhibits clear reception of messages, somewhat like the indistinct, fuzzy static of an un-tuned radio. As much a systemic issue as an individual one, it results from assumed privilege and lack of knowledge of worldviews other than the dominant. Until white noise is acknowledged, development of partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups is likely to be limited by having to continually start at a point of inequality where nonIndigenous gaps in knowledge and understanding remain unrecognised. This paper/workshop considers challenges encountered while researching experiences of Aboriginal education in Western Australian prisons. Each pressure point occurred where the dominant world view prevailed without question. Discussion will focus on the specific pressure points of ethics approval, project development, informed consent and application of outcomes and findings. The paper asks the questions ‘Who decides what stories are created at these pressure points? What informs those stories?’ As individuals, we might not be able to crash through the white noise barrier but we can chip away and be transparent about its existence with the goal of eventually moving faster than the speed of white (noise).

Monitoring substance use in prisons: Assessing the potential value of wastewater analysis

Prison substance use is a major concern for prison authorities and the wider community. Australia has responded to this problem by implementing the National Corrections Drug Strategy. Across Australia, the true extent of prison substance use cannot be determined. As a result, the effectiveness of the interventions employed as part of this strategy cannot be properly assessed. This has important implications for the allocation of corrective services resources and future policy development. This article explores the benefits and limitations, as well as the ethical and practical issues in using wastewater analysis (WWA) to measure levels of substance use in prisons. It reports results from the first application of WWA to an Australian prison, which supports the use of WWA in this context. Given the increasing concern for prescription misuse in prisons, we also highlight the novel use of WWA to measure the extent of prescription misuse by prisoners. The article concludes that as a result of its objectivity, sensitivity and cost-effectiveness, the use of WWA in prisons warrants further consideration in Australia.

Vulnerability criminalised: Transgender people in prisons

Purpose of this paper: International research identifies transgender people as a vulnerable group in prison systems, with basic needs often being denied. This paper outlines Australian contexts of incarceration, and links between institutional responses and the vulnerabilisation of transgender prisoners. Design/methodology/approach: The paper critically analyses Australian prison policies regarding the treatment of transgender prisoners. Findings: The policy analysis illustrates the links between institutional practices and the increased vulnerability of transgender prisoners. The paper argues that policies further criminalise, and potentially doubly punish, transgender prisoners. Research limitations/implications: This paper analyses the publicly available policies on regulating transgender people’s imprisonment. Given the limited Australian research into transgender prisoner’s lived experiences, there is a gap in relation to policies, their perception, and how corrective services personnel enact the limited procedures available to them in managing transgender prisoners. Practical Implications: Current policies and practices significantly enhance the vulnerability of transgender prisoners. This policy analysis highlights the critical importance of policy and practice reform in relation to housing, safety, health and welfare services, and misgendering. What is the original/value of paper: The policy analysis provides practitioners with an outline of critical issues that arise when transgender people are imprisoned and suggests key areas for future research.

Prison architecture and privatisation : project delivery in the Australian context

The study is a comparison of the relationship between the architect and associated parties in the planning, design and construction of private and public prisons in Australia between 1985-2000.

Fractured lives : Australian prisoners of war of the Japanese and their families

Examines how the particular nature of captivity by the Japanese during World War II intensified and complicated the impact, legacy and memory of war for POWs and their families. It presents insights into the experience of the prisoners' wives and how battalion associations protect and promote the remembrance of war.

'Without fists' : age-mixing and its influence on safety and criminal contamination in women's prisons

Prisons are often considered to be places where violence and intimidation prevail, and where young prisoners are at risk of victimisation from adult prisoners. For this reason, youth in custody are housed separately from adult offenders in most Western jurisdictions. In New Zealand, for a variety of reasons, a separate facility for young women in custody is not provided as it is for young men. Therefore, researchers were able to conduct a study to investigate the experience of age-mixing from the point of view of young women in custody. Dominant notions of what constitutes contamination and who perpetrates violence in the custodial setting have been challenged as a result of analysis of this data. In fact, young women who were age-mixed in custody asserted that age-mixing has the effect of decreasing the degree and impact of the prevailing violent culture.