Prisons

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No use of this publication may be made for resale or any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from UNODC.

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Globally, imprisonment rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels following a COVID-19 induced dip, while aggregated data–such as global level figures–often mask very high levels of prison use in certain places.

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The survey results, which reveal widespread recognition of the importance of rehabilitation in prison, are presented in this first edition of Prison Matters. ………………………………………………………………… UNODC, ‘The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules)’, Rule 4, 2015.

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World prison population on the increase, after a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic Following a decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people held in prison worldwide has started to rise again.

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The vast majority of prisoners worldwide are men, representing almost 94 per cent of the prison population or 10.8 million prisoners in 2022.

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PRISON MATTERS 2024: Global Prison Population and Trends; A Focus on Rehabilitation between 2019 and 2020 before increasing again in 2021 and 2022 (respectively to 143 and 144 prisoners per 100,000 population).6 In 2022, about half of the global population in prison was incarcerated in Asia, almost four percentage points more than in 2012, and a third in the Americas.

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Estimates for 2022 indicate that people in the Americas were nearly 4 times more likely to be in prison than those living in Africa.

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Nearly a third of the global prison population remains in pre-trial detention, masking wide regional disparities In 2022, around 3.5 million prisoners worldwide were held in pre-trial detention.

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Tracking the overall increase in the number of persons held in prison globally, the percentage of unsentenced prisoners among all prisoners has remained almost stable at around 30 per cent since 2012.9 ………………………………………………………………… Ibid.

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Across global regions, the highest proportion of unsentenced prisoners among the overall prison population is reported in Africa and Oceania (both at 36 per cent in 2022), and the lowest in Europe (18 per cent).

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Breaking down these data to subregion level, the situation is particularly concerning in Southern Asia where almost two thirds of detainees (63 per cent) are held unsentenced.

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In some regions women face a higher risk of pre-trial detention than men In 2022, a total of 3,311,000 men and 216,000 women were held in pre-trial detention worldwide.

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Oceania has the highest gender gap, with 43 per cent of women compared to 35 per cent of men held without a sentence.13 ………………………………………………………………… Ibid.

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Prisons are overcrowded in more than 60 per cent of countries worldwide, sparking concerns about health and human rights of those detained in these prisons Overcrowding remains a significant concern in many prisons.

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This situation is particularly concerning in Africa and the Americas, where more than 70 per cent of countries with available data report overcrowded prison systems operating at more than 100 per cent of their planned capacity.

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Enhanced efforts are required to prevent deaths in prison; more than 1 in 10 deaths occurring in prison is a suicide The number and type of deaths occurring in prisons can provide insight into prison conditions and safety in prisons.

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While data on mortality in prison remain limited in Africa, Asia and Oceania, it is possible to produce a global average based on data from 95 countries.

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This is nearly three times lower than the crude death rate18 globally in 2022 (8.4 deaths per 1,000 people),19 reflecting the fact that people in prison are on average much younger than the general population.

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However, countries in the Americas with data had a much higher number of intentional homicides per 100,000 prisoners than countries in other regions, at 18.3 victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 prisoners.

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Based on available data in 95 countries worldwide, in 2022, 34.2 prisoners out of every 100,000 prisoners committed suicide, a rate that is more than three times higher than the 2019 global crude suicide rate of 9.2 deaths per 100,000 general population.23 The share of deaths due to suicide, among all deaths in prison, was the highest in Europe, at close to 18 per cent, followed by the Americas at 12 per cent.

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Suicide was, however, the reported cause of death for less than 5 per cent of the deaths of prisoners in countries of Asia and Africa with data.24 ………………………………………………………………… World Health Organisation, ‘The Global Health Observatory, Suicide Rates’, The World Health Organisation, 2024.

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In some countries, prisons are under-staffed, reducing safety and undermining efforts to foster a rehabilitative prison environment Significant differences exist in prison staffing between different regions of the world.

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In 2022, they had the second highest number of prison staff relative to their general population, at 52.9 prison staff per 100,000 population.

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The share of women employed in prisons varies across regions with the highest share of women among all prison staff at 34.4 per cent in countries with data in Europe and the lowest at 18.7 per cent in countries with data in Africa.27 Rate of prison personnel per 100,000 population, 2022 or latest year available Notes: Regional and global figures are averages of countries with data weighted by their population.

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Globally, nearly 7 out of 10 those working in prisons are responsible for the surveillance of prisoners, while slightly more than 2 out of 10 are part of the prison administration and 1 out of 10 are employed to support prisoner health (including ………………………………………………………………… Ibid.

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A positive answer could potentially reflect that rehabilitation is being actively supported at an operational level, but it might equally reflect that rehabilitation is listed as one of the overall objectives of imprisonment, such as in penal legislation.32 All the same, looking at the regional breakdown, dedicated rehabilitation planning is reported to be underway in all regions. ………………………………………………………………… Ibid.

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The UNODC survey also asked responding jurisdictions about the level of priority that they would assign to a number of goals to establish a prison environment conducive to rehabilitation.33 All these goals, a number of respondents observed, are core goals for prison administration and the task of fostering a rehabilitative prison environment; therefore, caution is required when interpreting their relative priorities.

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Three goals were consistently ranked as high priority: fair and dignified prisoner treatment; torture prevention mechanisms; and safety and security.34 These are the bedrocks of good prison management.

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Responding jurisdictions were asked to identify a maximum of five highest priorities and a maximum of five lowest priorities relative to their rehabilitation objectives.

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First, individualized case management for every prisoner, and second, high-quality inter-agency cooperation between custodial and post-release agencies, such as probation or parole services.36 Almost half of jurisdictions with a rehabilitation strategy report the engagement of prisoners as stakeholders during planning Many stakeholders can be involved in the development of rehabilitation strategies in prison, among which are prisoners and their families.

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PRISON MATTERS 2024: Global Prison Population and Trends; A Focus on Rehabilitation traditional feature of justice sector policy and planning, it is increasingly recognised by penal policy makers and prison managers as an element of best practice in prisons and offender management.

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Evidence from other areas where it is a more established practice, such as in healthcare, has shown it is associated with superior outcomes and satisfaction.37 Among the 46 jurisdictions that answered the question, around half (49 per cent) reported that they had taken into account the views and experience of prisoners, former prisoners and/or their families, while a further 15 per cent indicated that such engagement processes were being planned.

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These can be divided into two sorts: those that focus on improving general prison management; and those that focus directly upon the prisoner.

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The latter emphasizes practices that directly support behaviour change (rehabilitation, desistance) processes at the individual level.

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PRISON MATTERS 2024: Global Prison Population and Trends; A Focus on Rehabilitation Responding jurisdictions reported fewer activities supporting effective rehabilitation and social reintegration by involving a range of different stakeholders and as per community standards.41 The least reported of these, at 43 per cent, were measures to ”normalise“ prison life.

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These are measures to ensure prisoners have the same access to services, such as healthcare, as they would in the community, that the prison’s routines are designed to reduce institutionalisation as far as possible, and that a degree of normal contact, such as with family, is maintained while the prisoner is in custody.

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A considerable body of evidence, much of it from low- and middle-income countries, now illustrates the feasibility, sustainability and cost-benefits of reducing the use of pre trial detention45 46 47 and of non-custodial measures.

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Estimates based on evidence from prisons in Malawi and Uganda, for example, suggest that effective paralegal programmes can be implemented for a cost of US$20 per prisoner and produce savings of three times that.48 ………………………………………………………………… Open Society Foundations and UNDP, ‘The Socioeconomic Impact of Pretrial Detention: A Global Pretrial Justice Report’, Open Society Justice Initiative (New York, NY, 2011).

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In summary, the impact of overcrowding multiplies the challenges faced by prison services in preserving the integrity of prison management, ensuring the health, safety and well-being of prisoners, maintaining a rehabilitative prison regime and preserving prison security.49 Research has extensively documented these pernicious effects of overcrowding.

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Stéphanie Baggio et al., ‘Do Overcrowding and Turnover Cause Violence in Prison?’, Frontiers in Psychiatry 10 (24 January 2020): 1015.

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A study in the United States, for example, has shown that almost 90 per cent of imprisoned fathers report that their female partner is taking care of their child.

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Jo Taylor et al., ‘A Rapid Review of the Evidence on Models of Service Delivery for Correctional Centre-Based Mothers and Children’s Units: Does Our Approach Need to Change?’, BMJ Global Health 9, no.

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A toxicology study of all deaths in Irish prisons between 2009-2014, for example, found that in 30 per cent of suicide cases in prisons the person tested positive for drugs at time of death, even though the immediate cause of death was usually hanging.

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One systematic review of 38 high-quality suicide prevention studies from seven countries identified cognitive behavioural interventions as one of the most ………………………………………………………………… Róisín Mulgrew, ‘Prisoner Lives Cut Short: The Need to Address Structural, Societal and Environmental Factors to Reduce Preventable Prisoner Deaths’, Human Rights Law Review 23, no.

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In Europe, for example, significant differences exist both within and between subregions as far as prison staffing levels are concerned.74 The burden of shortages appears to fall most heavily on specialised staff and health professionals, such as psychologists, nurses, and social workers.

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Marcelo F Aebi, Edoardo Cocco, and Lorena Molnar, ‘Prisons and Prisoners in Europe 2022: Key Findings of the SPACE I Report’, Series UNILCRIM (Council of Europe and University of Lausanne, 2023).

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PRISON MATTERS 2024: Global Prison Population and Trends; A Focus on Rehabilitation found that mental ill health increased violent recidivism by 20 per cent in men and 40 per cent in women after all other risk factors had been accounted for.77 Fostering rehabilitation of prisoners A key aspect of prison management is to foster the rehabilitation and social reintegration prospects of prisoners.

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Some forms of prison programming ensure fundamental rights, such as educational programming,79 while others, including vocational training and employment, provide experience in a key pathway out of crime, which is stable employment.

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At global level, there remains a wide gap in the access of prisoners to rehabilitation programmes and other constructive activities in support of their social reintegration prospects, with such access being severely limited in resource constrained environments in particular. ………………………………………………………………… Flora Fitzalan Howard and Helen Wakeling, ‘Evaluating the Impact of “Rehabilitative Adjudications” in Four English Prisons’, Psychology, Crime & Law 27, no.

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In 2024, UNODC invited Member States’ prison administrations and other relevant bodies, as identified by their respective governments, to participate in a survey on prison rehabilitation and rehabilitative environments.

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The objective of the survey was to examine Member States’ priorities, frameworks and practices of prison rehabilitation to understand how prison rehabilitative environments can be made possible.

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PRISON MATTERS 2024: Global Prison Population and Trends; A Focus on Rehabilitation Prison rehabilitation strategies A key finding of this survey is the extent to which rehabilitation is recognised as a top priority for penal policy and penal administration and to which rehabilitation goals have become a focus of strategic planning.

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90 An important theme arising in the evidence of work on rehabilitation is the importance of culturally appropriate, or suitably tailored, schemes, initiatives and tools.

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In almost all cases, jurisdictions that had developed a rehabilitation strategy, model or framework also had in place some form of implementation arrangements.

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Supporting descriptions and documents showed that many of the higher income jurisdictions have dedicated research and evaluation capacities that publish extensively the results of their work.

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92 In some jurisdictions, these monitoring and evaluation efforts are required to fulfil statutory obligations and in some cases the prison service has key performance indicators associated with rehabilitation-related goals.

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94 A second approach responding jurisdictions identified to develop a more rehabilitative prison environment was work undertaken to improve the social climate of prisons and the relationship between prisoners and prison staff.In one of the Baltic states, dynamic security is emphasised as an important component not only of institutional safety and security but so too of effective rehabilitation and resocialisation.

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A rehabilitative index has been developed from this research, improving understanding of how prison environments influence different aspects.95 Finally, efforts to understand how rehabilitation is best achieved and to apply the results of research to rethinking the prison itself are reflected in new prison models.

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Second, more specialized rehabilitation programmes that target root causes of offending were implemented in around two thirds (68 per cent) of jurisdictions.

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Further, only about half of these jurisdictions (54 per cent) reported that programmes were developed on an evidence-based model or one that has a clear theory of change, and only slightly more (59 per cent) reported that these programmes were subject to regular monitoring and evaluation to inform improvements in practice.

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Even there, questions have been raised about the relevance and impact of such “effective” practices for minority groups, including indigenous offenders.102 103 The available evidence base for what is an effective rehabilitation programme in prisons in other regional contexts remains slim.

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The apparent success of rehabilitative elements of this training is captured in the reports of around three quarters (76 per cent) of jurisdictions that they had achieved prison officer buy-in to rehabilitative objectives.

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Less than one in three jurisdictions (30 per cent) had some level of research staff capacity to support evidence-based learning and approaches.

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Specialist staff working with prisoners also appear to present a challenge, with fewer than half (41 per cent) of reporting jurisdictions having an adequate number of specialist personnel, including doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, instructors and educators.105 Regional data indicated a broad trend toward more specialist staff and research capacity being available in higher income jurisdictions.

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Rehabilitation Rehabilitation can broadly be defined as “processes and practices that aim at the successful reintegration of those who have offended.”107 Since the 1990s, a dominant model of rehabilitation practice has emerged that focuses on a small set of programming targets (termed “criminogenic needs”) based on their empirically established relationship with reducing recidivism.

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Seena Fazel et al., ‘An Updated Evidence Synthesis on the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) Model: Umbrella Review and Commentary’, Journal of Criminal Justice 92 (1 May 2024): 1021-97.

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Since studies of post-prison recidivism began in the 1920s, however, they have been plagued with problems of measurement.

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A systematic review of recidivism statistics concluded that “only 10 out of 50 countries with the largest prison populations reported recidivism statistics”, and most used slightly varying definitions.115 Two-year reconviction rates were the most common recidivism measure among the 33 countries globally that report post-prison reoffending, all but three of which are high income economies.

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Research done on positive prison climates and on developing a more rehabilitative culture within prisons (see below) are examples of approaches that can contribute to understanding how prisons can be reformed to support prisoner rehabilitation and social reintegration.

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Nevertheless, improving prison conditions generally, and redesigning prison regimes with a view to supporting rehabilitation more specifically, are key elements as highlighted, for example, in the ASEAN region.118 One suggested approach to understanding and designing more rehabilitative prison environments has been to focus on the social climate of the prison.

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