Prisoner health

Any description of the health of prisoners needs to commence with the reiteration of the principle that a when a court of law sentences someone to imprisonment, "deprivation of liberty" should be the only punishment. Regrettably, in Australia at the turn of a new century, too many citizens...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Levy, M., Butler, Tony, Falconer, T.
Other Authors: O'Toole S
Format: Book Chapter
Published: Federation Press 2005
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/9066
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author Levy, M.
Butler, Tony
Falconer, T.
author2 O'Toole S
author_facet O'Toole S
Levy, M.
Butler, Tony
Falconer, T.
author_sort Levy, M.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Any description of the health of prisoners needs to commence with the reiteration of the principle that a when a court of law sentences someone to imprisonment, "deprivation of liberty" should be the only punishment. Regrettably, in Australia at the turn of a new century, too many citizens are incarcerated because of hte consequences of illness.In reality, the "punishment" is only the beginning of a complex and punitive criminal justice system - prisoners, their families and their partners experience a number of "losses". There are levels of punishment - loss of privacy and loss of intimacy are just two that directly impact on the health of Australian prisoners. Regrettably, we confine our prisoners in conditions of physical squalor and overcrowding with the consequent health risks. Australian prisoners lose their Medicare entitlement. While this merely shifts the responsibility of primary health care onto the States and Territories, it significantly reduces the option of "second opinions" that the prisoner may request (as this now needs to be paid for by the prisoner or their family). These health risks and consequent health outcomes are readily transferred from the prison environment back to the outside community.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-90662022-10-20T04:16:54Z Prisoner health Levy, M. Butler, Tony Falconer, T. O'Toole S Eyland S Any description of the health of prisoners needs to commence with the reiteration of the principle that a when a court of law sentences someone to imprisonment, "deprivation of liberty" should be the only punishment. Regrettably, in Australia at the turn of a new century, too many citizens are incarcerated because of hte consequences of illness.In reality, the "punishment" is only the beginning of a complex and punitive criminal justice system - prisoners, their families and their partners experience a number of "losses". There are levels of punishment - loss of privacy and loss of intimacy are just two that directly impact on the health of Australian prisoners. Regrettably, we confine our prisoners in conditions of physical squalor and overcrowding with the consequent health risks. Australian prisoners lose their Medicare entitlement. While this merely shifts the responsibility of primary health care onto the States and Territories, it significantly reduces the option of "second opinions" that the prisoner may request (as this now needs to be paid for by the prisoner or their family). These health risks and consequent health outcomes are readily transferred from the prison environment back to the outside community. 2005 Book Chapter http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/9066 Federation Press fulltext
spellingShingle Levy, M.
Butler, Tony
Falconer, T.
Prisoner health
title Prisoner health
title_full Prisoner health
title_fullStr Prisoner health
title_full_unstemmed Prisoner health
title_short Prisoner health
title_sort prisoner health
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/9066