Suchergebnisse

Research shows incarcerated women suffer more chronic and/or preexisting health conditions than their male counterparts. Through the lens of federal court litigation pursuant to Title 42 U.S. Code Section 1983, this article discusses women who brought legal challenges, questioning the adequacy of correctional medical care rendered to their chronic and preexisting health conditions. Case law reveals several trends, including multiple disease co-morbidities, malingering, medication administration, free-world specialty care, diagnostic and treatment limitations, and mental illness. The article concludes with policy implications, suggestions for future research, and recommendations for accelerated research on the chronic and/or preexisting health conditions of female prisoners.

Previous research has questioned the clinical qualifications and professional competence of physicians who work in correctional facilities. This article further explores these issues by analyzing social control mechanisms that are employed against prison and jail physicians who (a) have been sued in state court by prisoners for medical malfeasance and malpractice, and (b) have had disciplinary action taken against their license to practice medicine. Physicians who were subject to suit are categorized by type of suit, medical complaint, plaintiff's injury, and disposition of the litigation. Drawing on previous research, the authors also classified physicians' rationalizations to prisoner litigation within Sykes and Matza's techniques of neutralization framework. Reporting that prison and jail doctors have higher rates of disciplinary action taken on their license than physicians at large, the article uses the principle of less eligibility to question the ethics of restricting problem doctors to work exclusively in correctional facilities.

This article examines mothers in prison, highlighting the complexity and detrimental consequences incarceration has for their families and children. It documents the legal remedies available to pregnant prisoners, focusing on their unique medical needs. After reviewing the U.S. Supreme Court's standard for liability, the article explores lower court case law to establish the legal parameters of pregnant prisoners' health care needs. The article concludes that although correctional health care systems have made strides in bringing appropriate medical care to pregnant prisoners, more remains to be done to raise the quality of care to those similarly situated in the free-world.

This article reviews state tort remedies assessed against correctional personnel for inappropriate and/or inadequate health care administered to prisoners. It reviews medical malpractice and negligence law generally and then applies these legal precepts to jail and prison health care legal actions. Through an inductive process, the cases from various state courts are divided into four categories: administration of inadequate or inappropriate medication, performance of inappropriate medical procedures, inappropriate diagnosis of serious medical conditions, and undertreatment of serious medical problems. The article concludes by calling for more research on health care within correctional settings.

This article focuses on civil liabilities imposed on prison officials for inmate-by-inmate assault in correctional facilities. After briefly discussing the statistical frequency of inmate-by-inmate assault, the article examines Farmer v. Brennan, a case on inmate-by-inmate assault decided in 1994 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Through an analysis of 96 pre-Farmer cases on inmate assault decided in the U.S. circuit courts of appeals, the article outlines the parameters under which officials might be held liable in post-Farmer litigation. The article concludes that the circumstances and situations under which prison officials are liable will not sufficiently change because the realities of judicial decision making may make it difficult for individual judges to distinguish between pre-Farmer and post-Farmer standards.

Using data collected from prerelease and 12-month follow-up interviews with drug-using offenders, this article evaluates the efficacy of the first prison-based drug treatment program in Taiwan. A quasi-experimental design matching drug-abusing offenders into treatment and nontreatment groups was adopted. Program outcomes were measured in five domains: criminal recidivism, post-release drug use patterns, improved family and social relationships, problems adjusting to community life, and mental health after release. Logistic and OLS regression were employed to identify possible correlates of program outcomes. The results generally failed to confirm positive outcomes generated by the compulsory drug treatment program. Program participants reported higher rates of recidivism and post-release illicit drug use than nonprogram participants. Program participants also reported more problems adjusting to community life after release. Post-release living arrangements, friends or family members abusing illicit drugs, and problems adjusting to community life after release were also found to be significant correlates of recidivism and post-treatment drug use. Post-release employment status and mental health status were significantly related to post-treatment drug use, but not to recidivism. Since multiple factors lead to drug addiction, the article concludes that the structure and implementation of Taiwan's prison-based drug treatment program needs reform to effect positive behavioral change on drug-abusing offenders.