Prison Health and Wellbeing blends theory with lived experience to explore the complex challenges and interventions that shape health and wellbeing for those living, working, and visiting prisons.
People in prison are far from a homogenous group, yet epidemiological evidence consistently shows higher rates of ill-health compared to the wider population. Historically, research has focused almost exclusively on individuals in custody, often overlooking the health needs of prison staff and others within these environments. This book addresses these gaps by offering comprehensive insights into the social, structural and cultural factors that influence health in prison contexts. Moving beyond a narrow focus on disease, disability and deficit, it adopts a salutogenic perspective asking what keeps people healthy, not just what makes them ill. By reframing prison health through a holistic lens, this book provides a critical foundation for improving wellbeing in one of societys most challenging environments.
Prison Health and Wellbeing is an essential resource for students and scholars of criminology, public health and health promotion. It will also prove invaluable for policymakers, commissioners and practitioners delivering health services in prisons.
1.Introduction. Section 1: Structures, Systems, and Access. 2.What are
the Major Factors that Influence the Quality of Primary Care in English
Prisons? 3.Understanding and Evaluating Social Care Provision in Prisons in
England and Wales. 4.Outside Prison Walls: A Study of External Healthcare
Access Among Persons Detained in Geneva. 5.Women in High-Security in Norway:
Prison Health in a Nordic Welfare State. Section 2: Specific Health Needs and
Populations. 6.The Complex Interface Between Cognitive Disability and Mental
Health in Australian Womens Prisons. 7.How correctional work affects the
self and personal and family relationships. 8.Queering Trauma-Informed Care
and Practice in Prison Healthcare. 9.Delivering Justice: The Role of Midwives
in Caring for Pregnant Women in Prison. 10.Bereavement in the Prison Setting:
Disenfranchised Grief in the Disenfranchised. 11.The Prison Toilet: Pee, Poo,
Periods & Power. Section 3: Rehabilitation and Wellbeing. 12.Managing the
Pain of Imprisonment: A Peer Support Approach. 13.Ageing Well in Prisons.
14.Developing 'Soft Skills', Encouraging Self-Reflection and Alleviating the
Pains of Imprisonment: Examining the Effects of an Academically Accredited
Sport-Based Intervention on Politically Affiliated Prisoners Well-Being.
James Woodall is a Professor in Health Promotion at Leeds Beckett University.
Matthew Maycock, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Monash University and was previously Baxter Fellow in the School of Education and Social Work, University of Dundee and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Gender Studies, Karlstad University.
Rosie Meek is a Professor of Criminological Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London.
