“Banged up with ADHD”: a qualitative analysis of the experiences of adult men with ADHD in prison

Purpose

A recent Ministry of Justice inquiry highlighted the need for more awareness of neurodivergent conditions in the Criminal Justice System. Although evidence suggests a prevalence rate of 25% for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) within the UK prison population, there is no research to date that has explored the experiences of people with ADHD in prison. Therefore, this study aims to address this gap in the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was collected within an adult male Category B prison. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with eight prisoners who had a formal diagnosis of ADHD. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to look for patterns across the data that addressed the research question.

Findings

Five themes were generated from the analysed data that included “The unsuitability of the prison environment”; “The impact of the prison regime”; “A lack of resources”; “The importance of staff and prisoner relationships”; and “Response to medication”.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study may be difficult to generalise given the specific characteristics of the participants. The participants were all adult males with a formal diagnosis of ADHD, taking prescribed medication, recruited from one prison and all resided on one wing that had been adapted to support neurodivergent people. Although qualitative research is not intended to be generalisable in the broad sense, the findings of this study may be transferable to individuals in other settings who share similar characteristics with the current study where parallels can be drawn.

Practical implications

Participants described the prison environment as being unresponsive to their neurodiverse needs. Findings support the need for awareness training for staff along with a compassionate approach to working relationships and psycho-educational work for prisoners for all to have a better understanding of the needs of this group of people.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are currently no qualitative studies that have sought to learn from individuals living with ADHD in prison themselves.