Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Hepatitis B and C among Inmates of Port Harcourt Maximum Security Custodial Centre

Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) are significant global public health burdens associated with liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and are responsible for over a million deaths yearly. Prisons and other confined facilities offer opportunities for the acquisition and transmission of infectious diseases such as hepatitis B and C during and after imprisonment. This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C as well as their associated risk factors among inmates in the Port Harcourt Maximum Security Custodial Centre. A cross-sectional study was conducted among inmates incarcerated in the Port Harcourt Maximum Security Custodial Centre from July to December 2022, and 200 consenting subjects completed a structured questionnaire in addition to screening for the presence of HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies. Data generated from this study was represented as frequency and percentages, and inferential statistics were carried out using chi-square with the aid of GraphPad Prism Software Version 9. Statistical significance was defined as a p-value of less than 0.05 at a 95% confidence interval. The seroprevalence of HBV was 4% while 3.5% was recorded for HCV with no cases of co-infections reported. HBV seroprevalence was significantly associated with blood oath and a history of surgery (p p < 0.05). The findings from the current study highlight a relatively lower prevalence of HBV and HCV amongst inmates in Port Harcourt in comparison to studies in Nigeria. These infections can be further controlled by multifaceted approaches by the prison personnel, administration, and Government by employing combative measures such as regular screening, easy access to therapy, awareness, and vaccination programs for HBV are crucial to prevent the transmission of these diseases.

Friendliness to Animals and Verbal Aggressiveness to People: Using Prison Inmates Education Networks as an Illustration

Goal of this research is to detect possible relations between animal-related attitudes and verbal aggressiveness as well as types combining such parameters. The sample collected in 2015 contains two adult education classes equivalent to secondary school level (class A = 23 inmates and B = 12 inmates, all male) at a correctional facility. Questionnaires were used. Network analysis software (Visone) and conventional statistics (SPSS) are used for calculating network variables (indegree, outdegree, katz, pageranketc) and implementing Spearman test and Principal Component Analysis. Inmates who have adopted an animal-friendly value system and are too coward to react against torture of animals, maintain a repressed emotion. If they do not intervene and provoke, then they are also not targeted by others. No reaction against torture is also connected with a deep-rooted aggressiveness. Concerning superficial aggressiveness, a profile, whose characterize is multiple verbal aggressiveness, can be attributed to repressed emotions. A type is torturing and indifferently restricts his aggressiveness, as he can satisfy his need of dominance by being aggressive towards animals. A type of inmate who loves animals and reacts against their torture, presents the most restricted and relatively smooth aggressiveness, as he discharges his repressed emotions to this reaction. Under condition of indifference, keeping pets is not evidence of loving but of a need of companionship. As for the deep-rooted aggressiveness (over-extroversion), it does not seem to be triggered by any repression.

Active Case Finding of Pulmonary Tuberculosis among Prison Inmates in Aba Federal Prison, Abia State, Nigeria

Background: Conditions in prisons favour rapid transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and progression to tuberculosis (TB) disease, resulting in higher prevalence rates of TB in prisons than in the corresponding general population. However, in many developing countries with high TB burden, passive case-finding remains the usual approach to case detection of TB in prisons. On this premise, the Abia State TB Control Programme conducted a pilot study to assess the contribution of active case finding to tuberculosis control in Aba Federal Prison. Methods: The inmates were clinically screened and those with symptoms suggestive of TB cases were tested by sputum smear microscopy. Results: Out of the total number of 477 prison inmates present in the prison at the time of study, 449 (94.1%) were clinically screened for history of cough of 2 weeks’ duration;52 (10.42%) met the inclusion criteria for sputum smear microscopy. Eleven of the 52 (21.15%) tested for acid fast bacilli (AFB) by direct smear light microscopy were positive for AFB. One inmate was on anti-tuberculosis therapy;this with the 11 cases detected in the course of this study gave a total of 12 inmates of Aba prison with active pulmonary tuberculosis at the time of this study. This gives a minimum point prevalence rate of 2405 cases per 100,000 prison inmates. Four of the 11 prison cells had at least one smear positive case with 7 of the 11 cases concentrated in two cells. The age group of 25 - 34 years had the highest number of sputum positive cases. Conclusion: Active case-finding resulted in detection of 11 new cases of sputum positive tuberculosis (an increase in detection rate of 1100%) and the prevalence of sputum positive TB is very high (2405 cases per 100,000 prison inmates) in Aba prison. There is an urgent need to institute more effective TB case-finding and control in the prison.

Determinants of Risky Sexual Behaviour among Inmates in Katsina Correctional Service: A Mixed Methods Study

Background: Incarceration does not vitiate sexual desire. Therefore, sexual activities occur behind bars, regardless of the stringent rules in correctional institutions. However, little has been documented about risky sexual behaviors, determinants, and experiences among inmates of correctional institutions in Katsina State, Nigeria. The study determined the sexual practices, prevalence, and determinants of risky sexual behaviors among prison inmates in Katsina. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional design with concurrent mixed methods of data collection was used to interview 216 inmates using a semi-structured questionnaire supplemented with 22 in-depth interviews. Result: Most (94%) respondents were male, almost half (44.4%) had secondary education, more than half (55.1%) were engaged in business or trading before incarceration, and the majority (75.9%) were awaiting trial. Nearly all inmates (98.6%) reported having sexual desire. Drug use (80.1%) and unprotected sex (79.2%) were quite common but sexual violence was low (7.4%). The number of sexual partners of respondents remained a significant predictor of sexual activity. Inmates who had one (1) or no sexual partner were 64% less likely to engage in risky sexual activity within the confines of the prison (AOR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.20 - 0.63, p = 0.01). Qualitative interviews revealed the denial of occurrence of sexual activity in prison despite sexual desire felt by inmates;loneliness, poverty, and curiosity as motives for sexual relations;denial of occurrence of sexual violence in prison;and drug use and use of unsterilized sharps as risky sexual behaviors. Conclusion: Despite the disciplinary action meted out on inmates, prisoners still engaged in a range of risky sexual behaviors. Conjugal visitations for married inmates could be considered to reduce sexually deviant and risky alternatives of relieving sexual desire among prisoners.

Inmates’Rights Protection in China’s Prisons

Prisons are the State＇s organ for carrying out criminal punishment. Chinese laws require that criminals sentenced to a fixed-term sentence, a life sentence, or to the death penalty with a two-year reprieve should serve their terms in prisons. China＇s high- est judicial administrative organ is the Ministry of Justice whose Bureau of Prison Administration manages the country＇s prisons. According to the levels of prison administration, prisons are divided into three cat- egories. Currently, there is only one prison in category I,

Prisoners awarded——Henan Yudong Prison rewards accomplished inmates

Gao Pingyuan has seen new hopes of a new life after serving his terms for 12 years at the Yudong Prison in central China＇s Henan Province. He got the special class award for his accomplished teaching in prison.

Prisons Help Inmates Turn a New Lease in Life

Shandong Province, east China,has reported a recidivist rate of 2.6 percent, meaning that of every 100 convicts jailed for criminal offenses, an average of only 2.6 have committed

Spring Festival Celebrations inside the High Walls——How the prison inmates celebrate Spring Festival in Henan

All the prisons in Henan put on a festive atmosphere as the .Spring Festival approached.The red lanterns, colorful ＂door couplets, beautiful China knots, New Year＇s paintings and the big red giant character ＂福＂, meaning happiness were seen everywhere.

How Fujian Prisons Guarantee Human Rights of Inmates

China has accelerated the reform of the prison system. How is the result of the reform? What about the living and studying conditions in the prison? How does the prison correct the inmates? What about the mental state of people serving prison terms? With these and other questions, we came to some prisons in Fujian Province and saw for ourselves. "Sunshine Project" We were told that all the prisons in the province introduced the open prison affairs

Psychological Counseling Helps Prison Inmates Turn a New Lease in Life

Psychological counseling for ＇prison inmates appeared in Jiangsu in the late 1980s, and it is now available in all prisons in this east China province. According to Yu Airong, director of the Jiangsu Provincial Prison Administration, the 19 prisons in the province each have a psychological correction center staffed by professionals.

An Exploration of the Relation between Hunting and Aggressiveness: Using Inmates Networks at Prison Secondary School as an Illustration

Aim of this research is to explore the relation of hunting with aggressiveness. For this purpose, two samples of prison inmates (who were students of the prison secondary school) were collected (class A = 23, class B = 12). The network indicators for superficial, idiosyncratic and strategic behavior (particularly, aggressiveness), applied in Bekiari and Hasanagas (2016), which were based on the primary network variables (outdegree, indegree, Katz status, pagerank, authority) were used. Non-network variables were also used for the criminal profile of the inmates. The data were sampled with questionnaire. Spearman test was conducted for detecting correlation between aggressiveness and hunting and Principal Component Analysis was used for formulating a typology. The following results were produced: The criminal profile seems hardly to be related with hunting experience or attitude. The relation of hunting experience and attitude with the superficial, idiosyncratic and strategic aggressiveness was examined. These three occasions of aggressiveness are expected to describe the incidental reaction, impulsive and adaptive reaction, respectively. The hunting is quite irrelevant to the incidental reaction. The impulsiveness seems to be more strongly correlated with hunting. In case of adaptiveness, there are many similarities with impulsiveness. The typology which is based on the existence (or not) of hunting experience seems to be more insightful, as it reveals a gradual involvement of aggressiveness dimensions, from incidentality to impulsiveness and further to adaptiveness. The following behavioral patterns of gradually enhanced aggressiveness appear: incidentally just provoking, impulsively being aggressive but without harming, and adaptively being aggressive and harming.

Coping Strategies and Depression among Male Inmates of a Nigerian Correctional Facility:A Cross-sectional Study

Background:Researchers have consistently found higher rates of mental illnesses,especially depression,in prison populations compared to the general population.Even though specific coping strategies have been implicated as a factor influencing the mental well-being of inmates,little is known about this interplay in resource-poor settings.This study aimed to investigate the relationship between coping strategies and depression among inmates of a prison in Nigeria.Subjects and Methods:This was a two-stage cross-sectional study involving 269 inmates of Calabar Prison,Nigeria.Participants were administered a sociodemographic questionnaire,the Coping Strategies Inventory-Short Form,and the General Health Questionnaire-12(GHQ-12).Respondents who scored≥3 on the GHQ-12 together with 10%of low scorers proceeded to the second stage for an interview using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview.Results:The prevalence of depression among study participants was 30.5%.Emotion-focused disengagement coping strategies(odds ratio[OR]:1.12,95%confidence interval[CI]:1.05-1.20)and a history of mental illness before imprisonment(OR:3.4,95%CI:1.34-8.57)significantly predicted depression,whereas problem-focused engagement was protective(OR:1.92,95%CI:0.86-0.98).Conclusion:Compared to the general population,depression is more common among prison inmates and is associated with using specific coping strategies.Coping strategies deserve increasing consideration when planning mental health intervention programs for this population.

Arterial Hypertension-Related Factors within Custodial Settings of Southern Benin in 2023

Introduction: Hypertension, a non-communicable disease, is a major public health threat worldwide, accounting for a high level of morbidity and mortality. Although it has been extensively published among the general population, further research is needed to understand the reality of hypertension within the custodial setting. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with arterial hypertension in custodial settings in southern Benin in 2023. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive, analytical study held in prisons in southern Benin from March to April 2023, involving inmates selected by two-stage random sampling. In the first stage, four prisons out of the six in the southern region of Benin were selected by simple random sampling. In the second stage, the prisoners were selected by systematic random sampling, with the sampling frame being the numbered list of eligible prisoners in each prison selected. Data collected by observation and questionnaire survey were analyzed using Stata 11 software. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg. Overweight was defined by a body mass index (weight/height2 (kg/m2) ≥ 25. Factors associated with hypertension were identified by multiple logistic regression, at a 5% threshold of significance. Results: Altogether 336 inmates aged 37.55 ± 1.72 years were surveyed. The prevalence of hypertension in custodial settings in southern Benin in 2023 was 31.32% (95% CI [17.06;52.57]). Associated factors were inmate age (ORa = 3.36 95% CI: [1.94;5.85]) and abnormal waist circumference (ORa = 2.61 95% CI [1.27;5.40]). Conclusion: The prevalence of arterial hypertension in prisons of southern Benin (31.32%) is high when compared with the national average (25.9% (22.5-29.3)). The ministries of the Interior and Health need to collaborate to involve inmates in preventive strategies for non-communicable diseases, including hypertension.

Prison Types and Inmates’Psychosocial Profiles:A Comparison between Medium and Maximum Security Prison

Studies on the impacts the type of prison’s environment had on the psychosocial well‑being of their inmates were few.To contribute more study on this,the current study explored the psychosocial health profiles of inmates and the type of prison environment by comparing inmates’psychosocial profiles of a medium security prison to a maximum security correctional facility located in north central Nigeria.Participants were male inmates of medium security prison located in Bida,Niger‑State and Jos maximum security facility in Plateau‑State.All the participants filled the study instruments(i.e.,a sociodemographic questionnaire,the ten‑item personality inventory,resilience scale,and Oslo Social Support Scale)after obtaining informed consent from them.There was a significant positive association of prison types with resilience and social support which was reversed for spirituality.The multivariate analysis showed that inmates of medium security prison had significantly higher resilience and social support scores compared to those in maximum security correctional facilities.There was no difference in the five dimensions of personality among the inmates and in their experience of spirituality.The findings add to extant knowledge on the impact that the level of“indigenous”deprivations had on inmates psychosocial wellness factors.The study hence advocated to the department of correctional services to modify the indigenous measures that promote resilience and social support without compromising security.

Explanatory Models of Inmate HIV Risk Behaviors: Does a Fatalistic Model Exist?

The deprivation, importation, situational, and administrative control models have been used to explain inmate violence. More recently, HIV risk behaviors of inmates have been explained with the deprivation and importation models. The goal of this study is to assess the utility of these models in describing inmate HIV risk behaviors and to identify additional models that may exist. Forty seven ex-offenders released from prison within three months of the study were recruited from a community based organization. They participated in focus group discussions that explored the contexts surrounding inmate engagement in HIV risk behaviors in prison. Data were analyzed using NVivo 7 and results were organized into themes. Inmates engaged in sex in exchange for money and for affection. Inmates who were drug users before incarceration were more likely to abuse drugs in prison. Security measures, if effective, deterred the entrance of illegal substance into prison, but when security is lax, inmates take the opportunity to engage in sex, and illegal substances are brought into prison. Our results reveal that deprivation, importation, situational, and administrative control factors are associated with HIV risk behaviors among inmates and they can be used in explaining these behaviors. The association of risk behaviors with long or life sentences suggests that fatalism may play a role in risk behaviors among inmates. Fatalism is a factor which requires future examination.

The Link between Facets of Impulsivity and Aggression in Extremely Violent Prisoners

Evidence is growing that aggressive behavior and impulsivity have subgroups. The subscales of the Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance and Sensation seeking (UPPS) impulsivity scale and the Bryant and Smith shortened and refined version of the Aggression Questionnaire were used to describe and compare impulsive and aggressive behavior in extremely violent and aggressive male inmates and non-violent healthy male controls. The Mann-Whitney test showed that there was a significant difference (p < 0. 006) in the total UPPS impulsivity scale scores between the aggressive inmates and the controls. The subscales revealed that this difference was based mainly on the urgency score (p < 0. 003). On the aggression subscales, the inmates scored significantly higher for physical aggression than the controls (p < 0.001), but no significant difference was seen between inmates and controls for verbal aggression, anger and hostility, although the exact p-value was very close to statistical significance at 0.054. Regression analysis revealed a strong relationship between urgency and the aggression subscales hostility (p = 0.0004) and anger (p = 0.003) and that urgency was also linked to symptoms of anxiety (p = 0.008). Finally, a statistically significant link was found between both hostility (p = 0.0003) and anger (p = 0.002) and symptoms of anxiety. The highly selected subgroup of extremely violent criminals in this study were more physically aggressive than non-violent controls, with urgency as the driving feature in their impulsive behavior, and hostility, anger and symptoms of anxiety as underlying traits.

Human Rights In Chinese Prisons In the Eye of a Prison Inmate

I’m serving a prison term at the Beijing Prison. It is already more than four years. One day in September 2000, one of my brothers who reside overseas came to see me. In private, he asked me: "Do you have enough to eat? Have you ever been beaten by anybody? Do you do very hard work? Is it cold in winter?" His questions startled me. They showed the unjust reports by foreign media and that made my brother worried about me.

The Tenchini's collection:a forensic anthropometric legacy of 19th century Parma, Italy

A group of 19th century inmates dead in the prison of Parma are the protagonist of an incredible scientific collection. Lorenzo Tenchini started the creation of this collection and dedicated his work and his studies to its completeness. Anatomist and academic, Lorenzo Tenchini (1852–1906) dedicated his scientific studies to macroscopic anatomy, particularly about central nervous system and its correlation with psychic function. In 1881 he became ordinary professor in Normal Human Anatomy at the University of Parma dedicating himself to the study of the anatomical organization of the brain and psychic and social disturbs. During the study of the skulls and brains of psychotic patients and the deformations of skulls belonging to patients admitted in the Hospital of Brescia, he started a collaboration with Alessandro Cugini (1829–1913), founder of the Institute of Legal Medicine at the University of Parma. Tenchini realized an anatomical collection, preserved today in the Museum of Biomedicine of the University of Parma. This collection represents the master-piece of his research carried out during his academic activity and still a unicum in the west-ern world, as there are no similar collection assembling such a multidisciplinary information. The peculiarity of this collection is due not only to the scientific interest of the anatomic samples and their full clinical documentation, but also to the methods employed in order to realize it. At the end of the 19th century, as a student of Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909), Tenchini based his work on the study of the face, the skull and brain of each dead inmate of Parma's prison or Colorno's mental hospital. These individuals as protagonists of Tenchini's collection, leave a legacy identifiable as scientific heritage. Their skulls and brains, the reproduction of their faces through ceroplastic and other anatomical samples treated with other techniques, are accompanied by an autoptic and psychiatric full documentation, allowing the collection to be complete with every aspect related to the inmates studied. Through his work, a comparison between different kind of studies, such as psychiatry, psych-ology, neurology, legal medicine and anthropology, is suitable in scientific research to be realized. Moreover, data come from a forensic context: this allows a comparison with differ-ent methodologies employed in modern age by forensic expertise such as the comparison between modern and ancient medical diagnostic technique. This masterpiece represents Tenchini's neuroanatomical research on behaviour and set a pioneering step in the history of biomedical science allowing further multidisciplinary studies.

Depression in Prison Population:Demographic and Clinical Predictors

Studies have shown that mental illnesses are more common among the prison population than the general population.However,most studies in this environment had only looked at nonspecific psychiatric morbidities.The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of major depressive disorder,its associated sociodemographic and clinical variables in a population of inmates in Nigeria.Institution‑based cross‑sectional study was conducted among 196 prisoners consisting of 136 awaiting trials(AT)and 60 convicted inmates(CI).Simple random sampling technique was used to select the study participants.Data were collected using a structured interviewer‑administered questionnaire.Depression was assessed with the depression module of the Structured Clinical Interview Schedule for Axis 1 Diagnostic Statistical Manual‑IV(DSM‑IV)Disorders.The diagnosis was made according to the DSM‑IV criteria and severity assessed with the Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale(MADRS).Forty‑one(30.1%)of AT compared with 21(35.0%)of the CI were depressed.The mean total MADRS score for AT was 23.90 standard deviation(SD)±7.97 while the mean total MADRS score for the convicted was 25.50 SD±8.70,P=0.479.Unlike the general population,there were no sociodemographic predictors of depression.Among the ATs,depression was associated with the presence of physical complaints,having a chronic illness and family history of psychiatric illness among the CI.The prevalence of depression among prisoners was found to be high and associated with clinical variables.Due attention needs to be given to address the mental health needs of the prisoners.