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Prisoners: Women

Answer

NOMS is committed to reducing the number of self harm incidents in prison custody. Whilst most self harm is not directly life threatening it can be extremely distressing for those who have to deal with it.A prisoner focussed care planning system, (ACCT), for those identified at risk has helped prisons manage self harm. The Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork, (ACCT), aims to improve the quality of care by introducing flexible care-planning that is individually based, supported by improved staff training in assessing and understanding at risk prisoners.The following programmes have been specifically developed to meet the needs of women:CARE Programme, (Choices, Actions, Relationships and Emotions) has been developed specifically for women convicted of violent and/or substance-related offences. The programme addresses a number of personal and circumstantial difficulties known to be linked to self harm, substance misuse, mental ill-health, violence and reoffending. The programme was piloted in two public sector prisons and an accreditation submission will be made to Correctional Services Accreditation Panel, (CSAP), in summer 2009.The Carousel programme was designed to meet the needs of women displaying repetitive self harming behaviour, many of whom are also disruptive or violent. It consists of a rolling group support programme combined with individual counselling, physical exercise and relaxation, educational activity, art therapy and music lessons. The development of alternative coping skills is a key element running through the programme. The programme, funded by the primary care trust, is run at Eastwood Park,a public sector prison.Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is a programme developed specifically for women with borderline personality disorder and who have shown a high risk of self harm or are high risk offenders. An adapted version of DBT is being run at Holloway as part of the Holloway Skills Training (HoST) programme, and at Low Newton as part of the Dangerous Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD) Primrose programme. Both prisons are public sector establishments.A new pilot has been launched at HMP Bronzefield, to help to tackle self-harm among its population. The Self-Harm Reduction programme, (SHaRP), aims to aid the women in developing coping strategies, problem-solving techniques, communication and goal-setting skills to help to control their self-harming behaviour. The programme takes place over 14 group sessions during a period of three weeks; and there are also opportunities for one-to-one sessions twice weekly by appointment. Once the initial three-week programme is completed, there is a six week gap before the women are assessed again by SHaRP staff. The SHaRP programme started in April 2008 for an initial 12 month period, with a view to extend. However it will be fully evaluated at the end of this initial period. In addition the three day SAFE programme, (whose goal is to reduce self harm), has also been running at Bronzefield since 2004 and is currently being evaluated by a forensic psychologist from NOMS.The following table details the current prisons which hold females, by funding sector; their populations (a) and their recorded numbers of self-harming individuals, for the period in question (December 2007 to November 2008).

Prison	Sector	Function	Population¹	Individual self-harmers
Askham Grange	Public	Female Open	104	0
Bronzefield	Private	Female Local	457	424
Downview	Public	Female closed	353	6
Drake Hall	Public	Female Semi Open	262	34
East Sutton Park	Public	Female Open	89	0
Eastwood Park	Public	Female closed	316	426
Foston Hall	Public	Female closed	259	332
Holloway	Public	Female Local	490	348
Low Newton	Public	Female Local	297	348
Morton Hall	Public	Female Semi Open	392	51
New Hall	Public	Female Local	427	506
Peterborough Female²	Private	Mixed Local	n/r	310
Send	Public	Female closed	275	114
Styal	Public	Mixed Local	440	378
¹ These figures are mid-year snapshot averages.
² Although a split-site mixed Local, HMP Peterborough submits a single population figure for both male and female sites (994 in June).

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

486 c669-70W; 245671

Session

2008-09

Subjects

Women Prisoners Prisons

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk