Human Rights and Prisons

8.5 Prisoners with Disabilities

Law and policy framework

The Corrections Act (s75) details that health care provisions to prisoners must be reasonably equivalent to health care enjoyed by the general population. Support services for prisoners with disabilities are provided by Prison Service staff. The Department of Corrections (2008b) maintain a Disability Implementation Plan in consultation with the Office of Disability Issues. During 2007, Corrections also established a Staff Disability Network. This network provides mutual support to staff that have a disability or an interest in disability issues. It enables staff to share ideas and experiences, and promote equality for staff with disabilities.
Staff should have information about prisoners with special physical and/or intellectual needs. Prison practices and routines, and the cell placement of prisoners, should be adjusted to meet these needs.
With regard to prisoners with intellectual disabilities, prisoners should:

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  Have a Sentence Management plan;
  
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  Be able to establish, and maintain, family communications;
  
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  Be provided with advocate support in all formal meetings and hearings;
  
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  Be communicated with in a form that is understandable to them;
  
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  Have priority for placement close to their community networks, as far as practicable;
  
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  Have their best interests promoted and be protected from exploitation;
  
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  Not be segregated solely on the basis of intellectual disability;
  
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  Provided with reintegrative programmes and services that meet their needs.
  

With regard to prisoners with physical disabilities, prisoners should:

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  Be provided with suitable programmes and services to enable them to participate in prison activities;
  
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  Have access to employment and programme opportunities;
  
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  Be provided with special clothing and/or footwear to enable them to participate in activities;
  
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  Be held in prisons that are able to cater to their needs;
  
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  Have physical rehabilitation therapy that addresses their spiritual and cultural needs, and involves family/whānau as required.
  
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  Have their participation in programme activities as a priority (this can involve additional visits from support people and agencies to encourage participation);
  
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  Be provided with adequate exercise facilities and suitable equipment;
  
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  Be able to access health staff and support personnel, during hours of lock-up.
  

Issues

In the UK, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (2009c) detailed that there was considerable under-reporting of disabilities within prison environments. They also reported that those with disabilities were more likely to feel unsafe and enjoyed less access to activities (in terms of leisure, education or work) than other prisoners. Disability liaison officers often lacked training and support and there was a lack of resettlement options for prisoners with disabilities. The Inspectors also commented that, given the ageing population within prison, disability issues were increasingly important.
In 2007, one British study found that 45% of prisoners had a borderline or full intellectual disability (Hayes et al, 2007), with borderline intellectual disabilities being linked to acquired brain injuries.
An Australian study on prisoners with intellectual disabilities showed that respondents found the prison to be a very threatening environment (Green, 2002). While wanting to be accepted by other groups, these prisoners often faced bullying, intimidation and violence by prisoners and staff. Their problems in accessing advocates also impacted on their capacity to access prison services, such as general health services. Prisoners with intellectual disability also faced increased hurdles on their release. Having fewer social networks than other prisoners, they struggled to access reasonable social support on release.
Relatedly, a UK-based study (Talbot, 2008) also indicated that prisoners with learning difficulties had difficulties in understanding prison information, so did not comprehend what was expected of them. This led to increased charges of misconduct against them. These prisoners had problems in completing forms – this led to them missing out on family visits and exercise as well as undermining their efforts to fulfil health or dietary requirements. Further, they rarely accessed programmes, and spent long periods on their own with little to do.
As yet, the author has found little recent information on Correctional practices towards prisoners with disabilities or learning difficulties. There are ongoing concerns about (i) the lack of data on prisoners with disabilities or learning difficulties (ii) the availability or accessibility of suitable facilities and services (Human Rights Commission, 2009). Currently, Corrections appears to be addressing issues of building compliance for disability access (National Health Committee, 2008).

9. Protection Measures

This section details the range of protection measures afforded to prisoners and staff – via information systems, disciplinary procedures, and complaints and inspection systems.

9.1 Provision of Information

Law and policy framework

The Corrections Act 2004 (s6(1)(f)) states that the provision of information about rules, obligations and entitlements is a central principle guiding the corrections system. At induction, new prisoners are to be given written information on the operation/rules of the prison and prisoner entitlements. The Prison Sevice Operations Manual (I.04) sets out that prisoners must be informed of their obligations, rights and privileges, and service access, in a way they can understand. Prisoners who are citizens of another country should be advised that they are afforded access to their consular representative.
With regards to transfers, prisoners must be informed of the transfer, including destination, at least a week in advance. They must also be given reasonable opportunity to inform a family member. There are exceptions to these rules on the grounds of safety, security and even ‘to allow for the effective management of the national prisoner muster’ (Corrections Act, s55(2)(d)). If this occurs, a prisoner must be allowed one free phone call, on arrival at the new prison, to advise family members. The reasons for transfer must be given if a prisoner requests that information, in writing within a month of transfer. Relevant policies are contained within PSOM (M.01-M.04, Movements).

Issues

Access to information has, historically, been an issue within the prisons. The Ministerial Committee of Inquiry into the Prisons System (1989:s3.5) showed that prisoners commonly complained that there was ‘uncertainty and inconsistency of prison life; uncertainty as to their rights and obligations and inconsistency in the interpretation and enforcement of the rules governing them in different prisons’.
The issue of information access was improved with the introduction of information kiosks that allow prisoners to check rules themselves. Following their introduction, the Ombudsmen’s Office (2005:61) stated that the system ‘appears excellent’. However, more recently, concerns have been raised about information access, principally as many kiosks have been damaged or broken. Further follow-up research on access to, and timeliness of, information would be useful.