Adjustment to short-term imprisonment under low prison staffing

Aims and method: To understand experience of early imprisonment in one prison under low staffing levels. A researcher, independent of the prison, interviewed each prisoner soon after reception and 3-4 weeks later. The first question of the second interview was: 'I'd like to start by asking you about your experience of the last 3-4 weeks in prison'. Data are verbatim answers to this. Narratives were brief, so responses from all 130 participants were analysed, using grounded theory methods.

Results: The core experience was of 'routine' - characterised by repetitive acts of daily living and basic work, and little reference to life outside prison - generally resolved passively, towards boredom and 'entrapment'.

Clinical implications: This 'routine' seems akin to the 'institutionalism' described in the end days of the 1960s' mental hospitals. In an earlier study of similar men at a similar stage of imprisonment, under higher staff:prisoner ratios, experience was initially more distressing, but resolved actively and positively, suggesting that staff loss may have affected rehabilitative climate.