Centre for Social Research in Health

The annual cost of imprisonment in Australia is $100,000 per inmate. Challenges associated with release from prison and subsequent reincarceration are a major ongoing problem as the national prison population grows to unprecedented levels. People with a history of injecting drug use (PWID) are a key population to examine, given they constitute up to 58 per cent of the prisoner population and report extremely high reincarceration rates. Interventions that can reduce reincarceration among PWID are therefore urgently needed.
The transition from prison to the community offers a key intervention point, yet the lack of research examining inmates’ experiences negotiating the complex post-release world in which health, social and criminogenic factors intersect, and which unpacks the trajectory of release-from-prison to return-to-prison, impedes the development of effective policies and interventions. This project uses a sophisticated qualitative research method to examine the lived experience of ex-prisoners who inject drugs to capture the inter-relationships between ex-prisoners’ multi-faceted needs. The results are directly applicable to understanding how in-prison and post-release health and other support programs can support ex-prisoners to achieve better outcomes on health, wellbeing, social and criminogenic measures, particularly recidivism. In-depth interviews examined the perceived health and social needs, informal strategies adopted and health/social services utilised by participants, and novel research dissemination tools were used to translate these findings.
Aims of the project:
Centre for Social Research in Health
Hepatitis and Harm Reduction
Schroeder S, Drysdale K, Lafferty L, Marshall A, Baldry E, Higgs P, Dietze P, Stoove M and Treloar C. (2022). “‘It’s a revolving door’: Ego-depletion among prisoners with injecting drug use histories as a barrier to post-release success", International Journal of Drug Policy. Volume 101, March 2022, 103571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103571
Treloar C, Schroeder S, Lafferty L, Marshall A, Drysdale K, Higgs P, Baldry E, Stoove M, Dietze P. (2021). “Structural competency in the post-prison period for people who inject drugs: a qualitative case study”, International Journal of Drug Policy. Volume 95, September 2021, 103261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103261
In response to findings from the project, researchers and community members collaborated to produce a three part series related to the overarching themes identified in the research: ego-depletion, structural competency, and trust. The results were evocative and compelling narratives that illustrate the difficulties faced, and strategies used to aid successful reintegration back into community, following the post-release period. The three pieces below align with each of these themes.
NHMRC
Burnet Institute - Mark Stoove, Paul Dietze, Peter Higgs, Sophia Schroeder
UNSW - Eileen Baldry, Alison Marshall