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PRISONHEALTH: Prisoner health in healthy prisons

The PRISONHEALTH project is a study of health care service delivery in Norwegian prisons, the health-related consequences of imprisonment and the impact the prison context has on the experience of health and wellbeing.

About the project

The aim of the PRISONHEALTH project is to provide new and groundbreaking knowledge about the effects of high-quality in-prison healthcare services and the potential of ‘healthy prisons’.

In Norway, prisoners retain all rights to welfare provisions while they are incarcerated, including the right to high-quality healthcare services free of charge. At the same time, studies show that a number of physical and mental health problems are relatively common among prisoners. Research also suggests that prison environments in themselves can cause, contribute to and exacerbate health problems. With the PRISONHEALTH project, our aim is to find out whether welfare state health care services reach prisoners, and identify possible challenges and obstacles to healthcare service delivery in prison and how to avoid them in practice. We want to examine the long-term effects of prison healthcare delivery from the perspective of individual prisoners as well as that of general society, including effects on health-related outcomes such as living conditions, criminal activity and post-release mortality. And we want to find out whether prisons can, in some circumstances, provide prisoners with a positive and constructive environment where personal development and growth is possible.

PRISONHEALTH is designed as an ambitious and groundbreaking synthesis of three different disciplines, each with its own theoretical perspectives and analytical traditions, drawing together established scholars working in the fields of medicine, sociology, criminology and law.

Sub projects

Project period

The project runs from 2021 to 2024.

Funding

PRISONHEALTH is funded by the Research Council of Norway's Research Programme on Welfare, Working Life and Migration (VAM).

Cooperation

PRISONHEALTH cooperates closely with the PriSUD project at SERAF – Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research as well as researchers from the University of Bath, Department of Sociology and Human Geography (University of Oslo) and Department of Public and International Law (University of Oslo).

Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2023). Effektiv rettslig beskyttelse av innsattes helse i fengsel. Klage, tilsyn og kontroll . Kritisk juss. ISSN 0804-7375. 49(1-2), p. 70–98. doi: 10.18261/kj.49.1.7. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
I denne artikkelen undersøkes i hvilken grad systemene for klage, tilsyn og kontroll med forvaltningen er egnet til og legger til rette for effektiv rettslig beskyttelse av innsattes helsesituasjon. Innsatte har de samme helserettigheter som andre. Effektiv rettslig beskyttelse er en samlebetegnelse på regelsett som skal sikre at individet får de rettigheter vedkommende har krav på. Artikkelen ser på eksempler fra praksis og analyserer kryssende regelsett innenfor straffegjennomføringsrett, helserett, forvaltningsrett samt likestillings- og diskrimineringsrett. De seks problemkompleksene som identifiseres, er knyttet til ulikhet i helsebetingelser, prioriteringer, ressursbegrensninger, bevisvurderinger, fragmentering av systemer, samt forholdet mellom individ- og systemnivå.
Ikdahl, Ingunn (2023). Pandemitiltak innenfor fengselsmurene. In Høgberg, Benedikte Moltumyr; Holmøyvik, Eirik & Eriksen, Christoffer Conrad (Ed.), Kriseregulering: Lovgivning under koronakrisen. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245035537. p. 677–698.
Svendsen, Vegard Gjerden; Stavseth, Marianne Riksheim; Skardhamar, Torbjørn & Bukten, Anne (2023). Psychiatric morbidity among women in Norwegian prisons, 2010-2019: a register-based study. BMC Psychiatry. ISSN 1471-244X. 23(1). doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-04886-7. Full text in Research Archive
Ikdahl, Ingunn (2022). Helseautonomi innenfor murene? Om retten til helse for innsatte i norske fengsler. In Aasen, Henriette Sinding & Bahus, Marianne (Ed.), Menneskerettigheter i helse- og omsorgstjenesten. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 978-82-15-04590-0. p. 219–246. Full text in Research Archive
Ugelvik, Thomas; Boyle, Rose Elisabeth; Jewkes, Yvonne & Nyvoll, Pernille (2022). Disrupting ‘healthy prisons’: Exploring the conceptual and experiential overlap between illness and imprisonment. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice. ISSN 0265-5527. p. 1–16. doi: 10.1111/hojo.12498. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Our aim in this conceptual article is to theoretically reimagine the concept of ‘healthy prisons’ in a way that more thoroughly grounds it in the everyday experiences of prisoners. Our point of departure is the observation that there seems to be an intriguing conceptual and theoretical overlap between first-person oriented empirical studies of two spheres of human experience that are normally seen as separate: serious illness and imprisonment. Our analysis leads us to reimagine the term ‘healthy prisons’ in a way that increases its usefulness for anyone interested in making prisons healthier and more constructive and reinventive institutions.

View all works in Cristin

Ugelvik, Thomas (2024). The desistance of the long distance runner. [Internet]. uio.no.
Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2024). Fattigdom, lov og rett. Lov og Rett. ISSN 0024-6980. 63(2), p. 81–82. doi: 10.18261/lor.63.2.2.
Nyvoll, Pernille (2024). “Patient or prisoner?”: Perceptions of prison healthcare services and the conflict between care and security.
Nyvoll, Pernille (2024). “Healthy prisons” during disruptions. Nordic Criminology Blog.
Ugelvik, Thomas (2024). A running start: Desistance from crime, Zatopekian pain, and embodied rehabilitation .
Svendsen, Vegard Gjerden; Bukten, Anne & Stavseth, Marianne Riksheim (2024). Kvinner som har sonet, har ni ganger så høy risiko for tidlig død. Dagens medisin. ISSN 1501-4290.
Svendsen, Vegard Gjerden; Stavseth, Marianne Riksheim; Skardhamar, Torbjørn & Bukten, Anne (2023). Psykiske lidelser blant kvinner i fengsel .
Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2023). Effektiv rettslig beskyttelse av innsattes helse i fengsel. Klage, tilsyn og kontroll.
Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2023). Jeg får ikke helsehjelp i fengsel – hvor klager jeg? Om tilsyn og kontroll av helse i fengsel.
Nyvoll, Pernille (2023). Opplevelsen av helsetjenester i fengsel.
Nyvoll, Pernille (2023). Lavere sikkerhet og endringer i Kriminalomsorgen - perspektiver fra feltarbeid.
Nyvoll, Pernille & Boyle, Rose Elisabeth (2023). Disrupting healthy prisons: Exploring the conceptual and experiental overlap between illness and imprisonment .
Ugelvik, Thomas; Nyvoll, Pernille & Rokkan, Tore (2023). Kroppslig autonomi og "sunne fengsler": Om løping under og etter straffegjennomføring.
Ugelvik, Thomas (2023). Fengselsforskning, metode og etikk.
Svendsen, Vegard Gjerden; Stavseth, Marianne Riksheim; Skardhamar, Torbjørn & Bukten, Anne (2023). Psykiske lidelser og dødelighet blant kvinner i norske fengsel.
Ugelvik, Thomas (2023). Hva er et helsefremmende fengsel? .
Svendsen, Vegard Gjerden; Stavseth, Marianne Riksheim & Bukten, Anne (2023). Uverdige forhold i kvinnefengslene: En varslet krise. Dagsavisen. ISSN 1503-2892. Show summary
Norske kvinnefengsler befolkes i økende grad av personer med aktive og alvorlige psykiske lidelser. Sivilombudets knusende kritikk av forholdene ved Bredtveit tegner nok en gang et dystert bilde av kriminalomsorgens evne til å ivareta disse.
Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2023). Effektiv rettslig beskyttelse av innsattes helse i fengsel. Klage, tilsyn og kontroll .
Rognlien, Ida Gundersby & Ikdahl, Ingunn (2023). Helse bak murene? Kritisk juss. ISSN 0804-7375. 49(1-2), p. 3–7. doi: 10.18261/kj.49.1.1.
Nyvoll, Pernille (2023). Prisoner or patient? Prisoners' perceptions of healthcare services in Norwegian prisons .
Nyvoll, Pernille (2023). Health assets in low-security prisons - Temporary disruptions and prisoners’ perceived health and wellbeing.
Nyvoll, Pernille & Lie, Martine S.B. (2023). Villrev i fangenskap - om revepopulasjonen på Bastøya.
Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2023). Prisoner’s access to health rights in Norway: Making relevant health determinants visible in law.
Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2023). People in poverty’s access to justice – Making legal systems of subordination in the Nordics visible in law.
Boyle, Rose Elisabeth & Nyvoll, Pernille (2022). PRISONHEALTH og PriSUD: Forskning på helse og rusbehandling i fengsel.
Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2022). Rights-based health provisions in penal settings. The Norwegian complaint and control systems .
Svendsen, Vegard Gjerden; Stavseth, Marianne Riksheim; Skardhamar, Torbjørn & Bukten, Anne (2022). Psychiatric morbidity in a ‘hardening’ prison population: Time trends and prevalence of psychiatric disorders among women in Norwegian prison, 2010 - 2019 .
Svendsen, Vegard Gjerden; Stavseth, Marianne Riksheim; Skardhamar, Torbjørn & Bukten, Anne (2022). Rus og psykiske lidelser blant kvinner i fengsel .
Svendsen, Vegard Gjerden; Stavseth, Marianne Riksheim; Skardhamar, Torbjørn & Bukten, Anne (2022). Kvinner (og kjønnsforskjeller) i fengsel.
Tverborgvik, Torill; Lokdam, Nicoline & Svendsen, Vegard Gjerden (2022). Paneldiskusjon: Helse og behandling i fengsel.
Nyvoll, Pernille (2022). Availability of health assets in low-security prisons.
Nyvoll, Pernille & Ausland, Liv Hanson (2022). Helsefremmende fengsel.
Nyvoll, Pernille (2022). Health benefits of natural environments in prison.
Boyle, Rose Elisabeth & Nyvoll, Pernille (2022). Analysing the "healthy prison": Incarceration, illness and institutionality.
Ikdahl, Ingunn (2022). Helseautonomi innenfor murene? Om retten til helse for innsatte i norske fengsler.
Ugelvik, Thomas (2022). Betydningen av mellommenneskelig tillit i fengsel.
Ugelvik, Thomas (2022). PRISONHEALTH: Ulike perspektiver på helse i fengsel og sunne fengsler.
Ugelvik, Thomas (2022). Om PRISONHEALTH-prosjektet.
Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2022). Retten til helse i fengsel.
Winquist, Bjørn & Nyvoll, Pernille (2022). Ingen landsomfattende helsetilsyn i fengslene på 20 år: Etterlyser tilsyn. [Newspaper]. Klassekampen.
Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2021). JussBuss debatt om psykisk helse i fengsel.
Ikdahl, Ingunn (2021). Retten til helse - også i fengsel?
Ugelvik, Thomas (2021). A breif overview of the PRISONHEALTH project.
Boyle, Rose Elisabeth & Nyvoll, Pernille (2021). Snapshots from ongoing fieldwork.
Ikdahl, Ingunn & Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2021). The right to healthcare services in prison.
Rognlien, Ida Gundersby (2021). Soningsforhold og psykisk helse. [Radio]. Journalen.
Boyle, Rose Elizabeth; Nyvoll, Pernille Søderholm & Ugelvik, Thomas (2021). The puzzle of prison order: why life behind bars varies behind the world. Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books.
Ugelvik, Thomas & Ikdahl, Ingunn (2020). Helsetjenester i fengsel og sunne fengsler.
Ugelvik, Thomas (2020). Helsetjenester i fengsel og sunne fengsler.
Ugelvik, Thomas (2020). Prisoner health in healthy prisons.