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. 2021 Jul 18;18(14):7642.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18147642.

Mental and Physical Health Problems as Conditions of Ex-Prisoner Re-Entry

Anna Pękala-Wojciechowska  1 , Andrzej Kacprzak  2 , Krzysztof Pękala  3 , Marta Chomczyńska  4 , Piotr Chomczyński  5 , Michał Marczak  6 , Remigiusz Kozłowski  7 , Dariusz Timler  8 , Anna Lipert  9 , Agnieszka Ogonowska  6 , Paweł Rasmus  3
Affiliations

Mental and Physical Health Problems as Conditions of Ex-Prisoner Re-Entry

Anna Pękala-Wojciechowska et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The article focuses on a less-discussed issue of social marginalization of people leaving penitentiaries, which is the prevalence of multifaceted health problems experienced by people in this category. It includes poor health status, resulting from, among others, poor housing conditions, harmful or risky lifestyle, and lack of access to medical services. Data from the District Inspectorate of the Prison Service in Lodz, Poland on the health conditions of inmates was accessed. These data were supplemented by qualitative research conducted in 21 juvenile detention centers and 8 prisons across the country, conducting direct observations and In-Depth Interviews (IDI). A total of 198 IDIs were conducted with incarcerated (72) and released (30) juvenile offenders, and incarcerated (68) and released (28) adult offenders. These were complemented by IDIs with experts (50) and Focus Group Interviews (FGIs; 8) with male and female inmates in 4 Polish prisons. The study revealed that mental and physical health is a serious obstacle to social reintegration of ex-prisoners. It is rarely addressed by state institutions. There are strong associations between neglect of health issues in the prison population and increasing social exclusion after leaving prison. As Poland has a restrictive penal policy, former prisoners remain a group with social stigma and little support.

Keywords: forensic sciences; health care/public health; hostage; social desirability; social exclusion; social isolation/alienation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of inmates in the European Union countries (June 2021). Source: Authors’ own study based on data retrieved from: https://www.prisonstudies.org/map/europe (accessed on 23 June 2021) [43].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Incarceration rate in the European Union countries (June 2021). Source: Authors’ own study based on data retrieved from: https://www.prisonstudies.org/map/europe (accessed on 23 June 2021) [43].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Incarceration rate versus crime rate in Poland (1990–2020). For the purpose of visual presentation in Figure 3, the crime rate was calculated as a total number of established criminal cases per 10,000 citizens. Source: Authors’ own study based on data retrieved from: https://www.sw.gov.pl/strona/statystyka-roczna, https://stat.gov.pl/en/, and https://statystyka.policja.pl/ (accessed on 23 June 2021) [44,45,46].
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