The perceived importance of social support for prisoners' mental health
Introduction: Research shows that people in prison often have poor mental health (1). Prisoners often lack access to sufficient and integrated mental health services (1). Social support can be defined as the perceived availability or actual provision of social resources in the context of relationshi...
Published in: | International Journal of Integrated Care |
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Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Ubiquity Press
2022
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Online Access: | https://www.ijic.org/jms/article/view/7106 https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.ICIC22059 |
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ftjijic:oai:ojs.www.ijic.org:article/7106 |
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International Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC) |
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English |
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Introduction: Research shows that people in prison often have poor mental health (1). Prisoners often lack access to sufficient and integrated mental health services (1). Social support can be defined as the perceived availability or actual provision of social resources in the context of relationships. It is an important determinant for mental health and has been found to be relevant in a range of settings (2-4). Imprisonment is a stressful experience. In line with the stress-buffering hypothesis, social support in prison could increase the ability to cope, which in turn would promote mental well-being.Objectives and methods: The study draws on elements from constructivist grounded theory to explore prisoners’ perceptions of social support, its significance for mental health, and the factors influencing the availability and acceptability of seeking social support from different sources in a prison setting. Drawing on collaboration with a prisoner support organization, we conducted in-depth interviews with eight prisoners from a prison in Northern Norway. They were asked about their mental health knowledge and about the factors that influenced their mental health during imprisonment.Key findings: The participants viewed the support of fellow prisoners as important for their mental health, while support from friends, family and prison officers were not granted the same significance. Limited and expensive phone hours and security measures were among the barriers for support from people on the outside. Some of the prison officers were perceived to be supportive while others were labelled uncaring, and the participants claimed that they would have to make calculated choices of whom they turned to for support. The prison's electronic records were a prominent barrier for confiding in prison officers, as the prisoners feared information could recorded and used against them. Although fellow prisoners were the most accessible and acceptable source of support, the participants claimed that fewer activities and more time in ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Solbakken, Line Wynn, Rolf |
spellingShingle |
Solbakken, Line Wynn, Rolf The perceived importance of social support for prisoners' mental health |
author_facet |
Solbakken, Line Wynn, Rolf |
author_sort |
Solbakken, Line |
title |
The perceived importance of social support for prisoners' mental health |
title_short |
The perceived importance of social support for prisoners' mental health |
title_full |
The perceived importance of social support for prisoners' mental health |
title_fullStr |
The perceived importance of social support for prisoners' mental health |
title_full_unstemmed |
The perceived importance of social support for prisoners' mental health |
title_sort |
perceived importance of social support for prisoners' mental health |
publisher |
Ubiquity Press |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://www.ijic.org/jms/article/view/7106 https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.ICIC22059 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Northern Norway |
genre_facet |
Northern Norway |
op_source |
International Journal of Integrated Care; Vol 22: Annual Conference Supplement 2022; 135 1568-4156 |
op_relation |
https://www.ijic.org/jms/article/view/7106/8024 10.5334/ijic.ICIC22059 https://www.ijic.org/jms/article/view/7106 doi:10.5334/ijic.ICIC22059 |
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AuthorsStarting in 2009 the International Journal of Integrated Care applies the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internaltional License (CC-by, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) to all articles, submitted in or after January 2009, that are published in IJIC. Authors retain ownership of the copyright for their articles, but they permit anyone unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. After it has appeared in IJIC authors may republish their text in any way they wish (electronic or print) as long as they clearly acknowledge IJIC as its original publisher with the correct citation details and copyright notice, independent of whether the article is used in whole or in part.Authors of accepted manuscripts assign IJIC the right to publish and distribute their text electronically and to archive it permanently retrievable electronically.Authors retain the copyright of the article. After it has appeared in IJIC authors may republish their text in any way they wish (electronic or print) as long as they clearly acknowledge IJIC as its original publisher with the correct citation details and copyright notice (see below), independent whether the article is used in whole or in part.IJIC may change the appearance of the article, both layout and technical format, to ensure consistency and readability. Under no circumstance will the content of the article be altered.The author warrants to IJIC that the article is original, does not infringe any existing copyright, and does not infringe the rights of any third party. This warrant concerns the entire manuscript, text as well as pictures, sound, video, data sets etc. The author also warrants to us that he has full authority to enter into this agreement and that the rights he is granting to IJIC are done so without breaching any obligations he may have.Acceptation:ReadersStarting 2009 Utrecht the International Journal of Integrated Care applies the Creative |
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CC-BY CC-BY-NC |
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https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.ICIC22059 |
container_title |
International Journal of Integrated Care |
container_volume |
22 |
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S3 |
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135 |
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ftjijic:oai:ojs.www.ijic.org:article/7106 2023-05-15T17:43:37+02:00 The perceived importance of social support for prisoners' mental health Solbakken, Line Wynn, Rolf 2022-11-04 application/pdf https://www.ijic.org/jms/article/view/7106 https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.ICIC22059 eng eng Ubiquity Press https://www.ijic.org/jms/article/view/7106/8024 10.5334/ijic.ICIC22059 https://www.ijic.org/jms/article/view/7106 doi:10.5334/ijic.ICIC22059 AuthorsStarting in 2009 the International Journal of Integrated Care applies the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internaltional License (CC-by, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) to all articles, submitted in or after January 2009, that are published in IJIC. Authors retain ownership of the copyright for their articles, but they permit anyone unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. After it has appeared in IJIC authors may republish their text in any way they wish (electronic or print) as long as they clearly acknowledge IJIC as its original publisher with the correct citation details and copyright notice, independent of whether the article is used in whole or in part.Authors of accepted manuscripts assign IJIC the right to publish and distribute their text electronically and to archive it permanently retrievable electronically.Authors retain the copyright of the article. After it has appeared in IJIC authors may republish their text in any way they wish (electronic or print) as long as they clearly acknowledge IJIC as its original publisher with the correct citation details and copyright notice (see below), independent whether the article is used in whole or in part.IJIC may change the appearance of the article, both layout and technical format, to ensure consistency and readability. Under no circumstance will the content of the article be altered.The author warrants to IJIC that the article is original, does not infringe any existing copyright, and does not infringe the rights of any third party. This warrant concerns the entire manuscript, text as well as pictures, sound, video, data sets etc. The author also warrants to us that he has full authority to enter into this agreement and that the rights he is granting to IJIC are done so without breaching any obligations he may have.Acceptation:ReadersStarting 2009 Utrecht the International Journal of Integrated Care applies the Creative CC-BY CC-BY-NC International Journal of Integrated Care; Vol 22: Annual Conference Supplement 2022; 135 1568-4156 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2022 ftjijic https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.ICIC22059 2022-11-15T00:47:45Z Introduction: Research shows that people in prison often have poor mental health (1). Prisoners often lack access to sufficient and integrated mental health services (1). Social support can be defined as the perceived availability or actual provision of social resources in the context of relationships. It is an important determinant for mental health and has been found to be relevant in a range of settings (2-4). Imprisonment is a stressful experience. In line with the stress-buffering hypothesis, social support in prison could increase the ability to cope, which in turn would promote mental well-being.Objectives and methods: The study draws on elements from constructivist grounded theory to explore prisoners’ perceptions of social support, its significance for mental health, and the factors influencing the availability and acceptability of seeking social support from different sources in a prison setting. Drawing on collaboration with a prisoner support organization, we conducted in-depth interviews with eight prisoners from a prison in Northern Norway. They were asked about their mental health knowledge and about the factors that influenced their mental health during imprisonment.Key findings: The participants viewed the support of fellow prisoners as important for their mental health, while support from friends, family and prison officers were not granted the same significance. Limited and expensive phone hours and security measures were among the barriers for support from people on the outside. Some of the prison officers were perceived to be supportive while others were labelled uncaring, and the participants claimed that they would have to make calculated choices of whom they turned to for support. The prison's electronic records were a prominent barrier for confiding in prison officers, as the prisoners feared information could recorded and used against them. Although fellow prisoners were the most accessible and acceptable source of support, the participants claimed that fewer activities and more time in ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Norway International Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC) Norway International Journal of Integrated Care 22 S3 135 |