Editorial – Dr Coral Sirdifield and Charlie Brooker

Abstract

It is timely that the publication of this special edition of the Journal coincides with the ongoing development of a Council of Europe White Paper on mental health in prisons and probation. The Council for Penological Co-operation (PC-CP), in accordance with its terms of reference for 2020–2021 (Doc. CM (2019) 131-addrev2), examined, in the course of 8 meetings in 2021 and 2022, the management of persons with mental health disorders by the prison and probation services, the challenges which might be faced by prison and probation staff in relation to this and what possible solutions and standards might need to be developed at European level. A questionnaire was sent to the prison and probation services of the Council of Europe member States to take stock of the situation and to inform the setting of key principles and recommendations. The survey established that there was a national policy for probation and mental health in just over half of the countries/jurisdictions (53%). This contrasted sharply with prisons where policy exists in nearly all countries/jurisdictions (93%). Clearly for probation, much remains to be done at a national level. A similar disparity was seen in relation to mental health awareness training with 74% of prison staff receiving some sort of training compared to only 37% of probation staff. It is worth noting that in 25 countries/ jurisdictions probation staff are not provided with any training on mental health issues. Estimates of the prevalence of mental health disorders varied significantly in prisons ranging from 0 to 80% (median = 18%) whilst in probation they ranged from 2 to 90% (median 15%). It is worth reiterating that all respondents were given the same WHO definition to use in their answers: