Transcript Jane Hegerty & Melanie Mitchell-Sisters Inside "It`s not going to

“It’s not going to break me.”
Mental health and women’s
experiences in the prison
system.
Jane Hegerty and Melanie Mitchell
General Intro/ Painting the
environment
 Our Role
 Work Environment
 3 Prisons
Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre
Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre
Helana Jones - Albion
General Intro/ Painting the
environment
 Our Role
 Work Environment
 3 Prisons
 Counselling environment and Restrictions
–Physical context and prison procedures
Effect of Prison on Women with
Diagnosed Mental Health Conditions
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Physical Environment
Access to Support
Medication
Experience of those without mental health
concerns
 Changes in Mental Health
Effect of Prison on Women with
Diagnosed Mental Health Conditions
 Physical Environment
– Crisis Support Unit
– Observation Cells
Effect of Prison on Women with
Diagnosed Mental Health Conditions
 Access to support
– Limited, time delays
– Type of support available
 Medication
– Women’s choice/control
Effect of Prison on Women with
Diagnosed Mental Health Conditions
 Experience of those without mental health
concerns
– Other women in prison
– Prison staff
 Changes in Mental Health
– Lose contact with support on the outside
– Skills/resources deteriorate
– Worse position upon release
Effect of Prison Environment on All
Women’s Mental Health & Wellbeing
 Prison Context
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Physical environment of prison
Prison culture
Maintaining a sense of self
Connection to outside/isolation
Expressing Emotion
Control
 Going Home
– Reintegration Leave
– Home to Stay
Effect of Prison Environment on All
Women’s Mental Health & Wellbeing
 Physical environment
– Limited space to self
– Hard to make a space feel like your own
 Prison Culture
– Practices & Expectations
– Officers/Corrective Services
– ‘Management’ of women
– Other Women
Effect of Prison Environment on All
Women’s Mental Health & Wellbeing
 Maintaining a Sense of Self
– Holding onto values and beliefs
 Isolation
– Family & Friends
 Expressing Emotion
– Limits and consequences
Effect of Prison Environment on All
Women’s Mental Health & Wellbeing
 Control
– Internal and external
 Going Home
– Reintegration Leave
– Home to stay
Supporting Women who have been
through the prison system.
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Women Direct Counselling & Support
Create a Safe Space
Respect
Difficulty of Day-to-day tasks
Awareness of control over decisions
Exploration and redefinition of roles and identity
Wariness of systems
Reluctance to trust
Isolation