Mental health/illness and prisons as place: frontline clinicians’ perspectives of mental health work in a penal setting
This article takes mental health and prisons as its two foci. It explores the links between social and structural aspects of the penal setting, the provision of mental healthcare in prisons, and mental health work in this environment. This analysis utilises qualitative interview data from prison-bas...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2014
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31779/ |
| _version_ | 1848794271261392896 |
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| author | Wright, Nicola Jordan, Melanie Kane, Eddie |
| author_facet | Wright, Nicola Jordan, Melanie Kane, Eddie |
| author_sort | Wright, Nicola |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This article takes mental health and prisons as its two foci. It explores the links between social and structural aspects of the penal setting, the provision of mental healthcare in prisons, and mental health work in this environment. This analysis utilises qualitative interview data from prison-based fieldwork undertaken in Her Majesty׳s Prison Service, England. Two themes are discussed: (1) the desire and practicalities of doing mental health work and (2) prison staff as mental health work allies. Concepts covered include equivalence, training, ownership, informal communication, mental health knowledge, service gatekeepers, case identification, and unmet need. Implications for practice are (1) the mental health knowledge and understanding of prison wing staff could be appraised and developed to improve mental healthcare and address unmet need. Their role as observers and gatekeepers could be considered. (2) The realities of frontline mental health work for clinicians in the penal environment should be embraced and used to produce and implement improved policy and practice guidance, which is in better accord with the actuality of the context – both socially and structurally. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-31779 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:32Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-317792020-05-04T16:52:37Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31779/ Mental health/illness and prisons as place: frontline clinicians’ perspectives of mental health work in a penal setting Wright, Nicola Jordan, Melanie Kane, Eddie This article takes mental health and prisons as its two foci. It explores the links between social and structural aspects of the penal setting, the provision of mental healthcare in prisons, and mental health work in this environment. This analysis utilises qualitative interview data from prison-based fieldwork undertaken in Her Majesty׳s Prison Service, England. Two themes are discussed: (1) the desire and practicalities of doing mental health work and (2) prison staff as mental health work allies. Concepts covered include equivalence, training, ownership, informal communication, mental health knowledge, service gatekeepers, case identification, and unmet need. Implications for practice are (1) the mental health knowledge and understanding of prison wing staff could be appraised and developed to improve mental healthcare and address unmet need. Their role as observers and gatekeepers could be considered. (2) The realities of frontline mental health work for clinicians in the penal environment should be embraced and used to produce and implement improved policy and practice guidance, which is in better accord with the actuality of the context – both socially and structurally. Elsevier 2014-08-12 Article PeerReviewed Wright, Nicola, Jordan, Melanie and Kane, Eddie (2014) Mental health/illness and prisons as place: frontline clinicians’ perspectives of mental health work in a penal setting. Health & Place, 29 . pp. 179-185. ISSN 1873-2054 Mental health; Prison as place; Social setting; Professional boundaries; Working environment; Health work http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829214000963 doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.07.004 doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.07.004 |
| spellingShingle | Mental health; Prison as place; Social setting; Professional boundaries; Working environment; Health work Wright, Nicola Jordan, Melanie Kane, Eddie Mental health/illness and prisons as place: frontline clinicians’ perspectives of mental health work in a penal setting |
| title | Mental health/illness and prisons as place: frontline clinicians’ perspectives of mental health work in a penal setting |
| title_full | Mental health/illness and prisons as place: frontline clinicians’ perspectives of mental health work in a penal setting |
| title_fullStr | Mental health/illness and prisons as place: frontline clinicians’ perspectives of mental health work in a penal setting |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mental health/illness and prisons as place: frontline clinicians’ perspectives of mental health work in a penal setting |
| title_short | Mental health/illness and prisons as place: frontline clinicians’ perspectives of mental health work in a penal setting |
| title_sort | mental health/illness and prisons as place: frontline clinicians’ perspectives of mental health work in a penal setting |
| topic | Mental health; Prison as place; Social setting; Professional boundaries; Working environment; Health work |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31779/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31779/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31779/ |