Family intervention in a prison environment: A systematic literature review.

BACKGROUND: The prison population in England and Wales is approximately 85,000, and elevated rates of mental health difficulties have been reported among the prisoners. Despite frequent recommendations for family interventions to optimise prisoner outcomes, the evidence for its use and impact in prison remain unclear. AIM: The aim of the study is to conduct a systematic review of published literature on family interventions in prisons. METHODS: Embase, PsychINFO and Medline were searched using terms for family interventions and for prisoners or young offenders. No limit was imposed on study design, but, for inclusion, we required that papers were written in English and published in peer-reviewed journals. RESULTS: Nine hundred eighty-three titles were retrieved. Twenty-two met criteria for inclusion. Three were case studies, 12 were descriptive, 6 were quasi-experimental and one was a randomised controlled trial. Interventions and study methods were too heterogeneous for meta-analysis. All studies gave positive conclusions about family interventions, but empirical data on effectiveness were slight. CONCLUSIONS: Consistency in findings across the wide-ranging studies suggested that family therapies may indeed be helpful for prisoners and their families, so further research is warranted. The fact that a randomised controlled trial proved feasible should encourage researchers to seek more robust data and to determine which form of intervention is effective and in which circumstances. It would also be useful to develop an improved understanding of mechanisms of change. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Treating Multiple Incident Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in an Inner City London Prison: The Need for an Evidence Base.

BACKGROUND: Mental health problems have been found to be more prevalent in prison populations, and higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been found in sentenced populations compared to the general population. Evidence-based treatment in the general population however has not been transferred and empirically supported into the prison system. AIMS: The aim of this manuscript is to illustrate how trauma focused work can be applied in a prison setting. METHOD: This report describes a two-phased approach to treating PTSD, starting with stabilization, followed by an integration of culturally appropriate ideas from narrative exposure therapy (NET), given that the traumas were during war and conflict, and trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT). RESULTS: PTSD and scores on paranoia scales improved between start and end of treatment; these improvements were maintained at a 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: This case report 1 illustrates successful treatment of multiple incident PTSD in a prison setting using adaptations to TF-CBT during a window of opportunity when individuals are more likely to be free from substances and live in relative stability. Current service provision and evidence-based practice for PTSD is urgently required in UK prisons to allow individuals to engage in opportunities to reduce re-offending, free from mental health symptoms.

Substance use and at-risk mental state for psychosis in 2102 prisoners: the case for early detection and early intervention in prison.

AIM: Prisoners exhibit high rates of substance use and mental health problems. In the present study, we sought to gain a detailed understanding of substance use amongst young prisoners to inform early detection and early intervention strategies in a prison setting. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of 2102 prisoners who were screened by the London Early Detection and Prevention in Prison Team (LEAP). Data on the use of substances were collected including age of first use, recent use, duration of use and poly-drug use. The Prodromal Questionnaire - Brief Version was used to screen for the at-risk mental state. RESULTS: We found high rates of lifetime and recent use and low age of first use of a number of substances. We also found strong associations between substance use and screening positive for an at-risk mental state. Logistic regression analysis confirmed that use of any drug in the last year, poly-drug and early use, as well as heavy alcohol use, were related to an increased risk of screening positive. CONCLUSIONS: Substance use in the prison population is not only widespread and heavy but is also strongly linked with a higher risk of developing mental health problems. The need for early detection and early intervention in prison is discussed.