A medical expert has warned against comparing prisoners’ medical and psychiatric needs to those of the general population, saying prisons had to be seen within their own distinct context.
The prison reality today is very different... As society changes, so do criminals
“Prison is a totally distinct environment, full of damaged individuals – some with personality disorders, other with plenty of time and plenty to think about,” the source said.
His comments come in the wake of statements made by Corradino Correctional Facility inmate Daniel Holmes to The Times, describing prison as rife with certified use of prescription medicines and inmates as “popping pills like there’s no tomorrow”.
The medical expert, who cannot be named, had some sympathy for Mr Holmes’s perspective.
“I can understand where he’s coming from. But you can’t look at the scenario in isolation,” he insisted, noting there were a variety of factors impacting on the type of cure an inmate would receive.
According to the expert, “at least one-third of the prison population at any given time will have some sort of drug problem. You also get sociopaths who go out of their way to abuse anything they can get their hands on, and others with underlying psychological problems which eventually manifest themselves”.
Mr Holmes’s comments sparked a furious reaction from the Home Affairs Ministry, which issued a statement decrying The Times’ reports as “inaccurate and misleading”, while avoiding questions this newspaper sent concerning over-medication of inmates.
Although the ministry’s reaction did not make any direct reference to inmate use of anti-depressants, academic research points to an international trend for higher use of such drugs.
A 2005 study of Norway’s prison population had found that as many prisoners were prescribed antidepressants as somatic drugs.
The ministry statement said CCF inmates were treated for conditions which reflected “those normally prevalent among the general population”, citing heart disease, hypertension, depression and diabetes as examples. Although medication was dispensed three times a day, “this by no means implies that all inmates on medication require treatment three times a day”, the ministry insisted.
It also took exception to Mr Holmes’s claims that problems with his yellow medication card had resulted in his prescription of an antidepressant being stopped suddenly and without warning.
Inmates, the ministry said, did not require such a medication card. The ministry declined to enter into the particulars of the Briton’s case, citing confidentiality clauses.
In its statement, the ministry admitted that existing in-house prison training courses were “of a basic and general nature” but said inmates could avail of more specialised training within educational institutions once they qualified for prison release. In-house training was subject to demand and availability, a ministry spokesman explained.
The medical expert conceded that prison authorities had their work cut out adapting to evolving inmate realities.
“The prison reality today is very different to that of 20 or even 15 years ago. As society changes, so do criminals. Prison needs to constantly evolve too, but it’s easier said than done.”