The family on other side of the wall - report about the family work in finnish prisons

Why is family work needed in prison?

Social networks may be crucial in preventing new crimes or, on the other hand, committing crimes if human relationships maintain criminality. Prisoners have a lot of different human relationship problems: they lack good relationships and have broken and pro-intoxicant and pro-crime relationships. The working group finds the development of family relationships during imprisonment very important in co-operation with the actors of family work of the society. A prisoner's comprehensive assistance to start a crimeless life may include also the development of parenthood skills and reduction of partner violence.

The working group has according to its assignment focused on family work, but it emphasises that also other relationships are important, especially for the prisoners who have no family. It should be possible to create also new, good relations during imprisonment.

As a starting point while planning the status of family work has been considered the proposal for the Prison Act and the guidelines for the RAKE project of the prison administration.

The goals and contents of family work

The goal of family work is to reduce the harmful effects caused by imprisonment and to promote a prisoner's integration into society.

Through family work the dealing with a prisoner's children's and family's psychological, social and economical matters and family relationships are supported. Family work includes guidance and advice, arranging of contacts, family camps, support in families' crisis situations, other promotion of family relationships and influencing on non-violence in family relationships. The activity is realised together with other family work actors of the society. In the activity, the prevention and control of eventual abuse is taken into consideration.

All prison officers are doing family work who meet prisoners' families or matters connected to them. Also other actors of the society may perform family work with prisoners and their families.

The supporting of family ties is desirable to begin already before the enforcement of the sentence, and continue it in prison and after release together with the respective actors of the society. Harmful effects caused to the prisoner's family by the imprisonment should be reduced by the measures of the society.

The organising of family work

A risk and needs assessment and a preliminary sentence plan are made in the assessment and intake unit, the part of which is attending to the human/family relationships.
In the remand prison there must be a possibility to have contact with the family.
In the placement units continuous activity is arranged which involves a great deal of prisoners. In the placement unit, the sentence plan is complemented as far as family work is concerned, and in good time before release a release plan is drawn in which further need for family work is planned together with the prisoner and possibly with the family and outside actors.
In an centralised way such activity is arranged that presupposes disintegration from prison for some time and which can be arranged as intensive periods for a short time.

Development of family work

Assessment and planning
In risk and needs assessment problems with the prisoner's family relations and deficiencies in his/her human relations skills are clarified. Also legal ban on approach is clarified at the entry. On the basis of the assessment, necessary activity and security requirements are decided. Family relations must be included as an important issue in the sentence and release plans.

Contact between the prisoner and his/her family
Normality must be a principle in maintaining of family contacts, and it should be restricted only to the extent that prevention of abuse in each prisoner's case requires. It is important that individuality is taken into consideration.

Telephone calls
Possibilities for telephone calls should be arranged moderately which requires in some institutions adding of telephone apparatus in the wards.

A prisoner should be able to inform his/her family at least about entering prison, transfer and release at the cost of the state. It is preferable that a prisoner can call his children at the cost of the state often enough if there is no possibility for a visit.

Permissions of leave
Reliable prisoners should, on the basis of an important reason, be granted leaves for occasions which shall promote the relationship between a child and a parent. Leaves and permissions for outside occasions should be possible also for attending other family matters which are regarded important by social welfare or other network actors.

Visits
The visiting rooms of the prisons should be suitable for its purpose for which the working group proposes the affirming of quality criteria for various forms of visits. There must be enough visiting rooms of different levels regarding the individual need of surveillance of various prisoners. Attention must be paid to the cosiness of the facilities.

The visiting culture must be developed to be more positive from the point of view of the visitor in the manner which the visits are organised. Queuing can be reduced e.g. by booking times beforehand. In the visiting rooms, the possibility of passing of information on prison administration and services of society for families, peer activities etc. should be utilised. Also different occasions for the families are necessary.

The practices of different prisons concerning unsupervised visits must as far as possible be made uniform by directions. The groups for which unsupervised visits are suggested on the basis of the Prison Act are close relatives and other nearest (in practice unmarried spouses) and other persons who are considered suitable. Meaningful human relationships are revealed when e.g. a network map is being worked out with the prisoner.

The visits of unmarried or married spouses must be without delay, either at a special officer's presence or unsupervised to guarantee a peaceful conversation. The visit requires the clarification that there are no hindrances regarding supervision. If the prisoner has had unsupervised visits in other prisons, the praxis should be continued in the new institution with the same visitor/visitors unless any abuses have occurred.

Special attention should be paid to the realisation of children's rights during the parent's imprisonment. The working group sees that the agreements and regulations mean for instance that a child has the right to meet an imprisoned parent in humane circumstances.

Attending to family relationships

Family work promoting interaction can be considered to belong to the Prison Service only to the extent that it enhances the realisation of the correctional goals. The actual activity belongs in the society to the organisations which are carrying out family work. The co-operation of societal family work organisations and the prison administration during imprisonment must be developed. Work can take place in prison or outside.

Activity forms are individual work/work with one family and network meetings, various activity groups and family rehabilitation in family camps. In human relations work for instance a network map can be used as a tool. In network meetings it is desirably that the prisoners' close ones participate in them.

The working group considers that it is appropriate to increase the number of family camps as they have yielded good experiences. The programme of the camp should cover both being together and themes promoting family relationships according to the need. The co-ordination of the camps and selection of participants should be developed.

The task of bringing up children requires that the parents are given true possibilities and also improved capabilities if they are lacking them. Skills of being a parent can be developed through a systematic activity. A programme might include issues connected handling children's different age phases and special problems of parenthood during imprisonment. The activity should be started gradually so that it could be extended to all regional prisons being planned.

The working group proposes that activity in prisons reducing close-relationship-violence is developed for instance by using the MOVE intervention developed in Mikkeli prison. Because partner violence is rather common, information should be increased in prisons on healthy relationships, female and masculine roles and family violence. Also the further elaboration is important. The coping of the victims of family violence should be promoted.

The working group considers that work with young prisoners and their families is an important part of young prisoners' rehabilitation

The situation of foreign prisoners should be improved by increasing the provision and delivery of material on the prison administration in different languages. Organisations for foreigners should be encouraged for co-operation with the Prison Service by arranging various activities, for instance by providing a support person to a foreign prisoner and his/her family.

Connected to a starting a new kind of activity, an assessment research should be started.

Personnel doing family work in regional prisons

Family work has been defined in the way that the whole personnel participate in it whose work in one way or another is targeted at a prisoner's family. Family work must be clearly defined in the job descriptions of the officers taking care of it, and their expertise should be taken as the basis for this work. For family work it is appropriate to nominate a contact person already in 2004 for every prison because the development of work presupposes that there is an officer who is responsible for the activity.

To intensify family work on a long run, each regional prison needs the post of a worker concentrating on family work. The family worker is responsible for the co-operation between different units of a regional prison, and for family programme activity including the co-ordination of partner violence intervention. The establishment of family worker post is appropriate to realise in phases so that their number will rise to six in the context of the establishment of the new organisation. Another alternative is to reserve enough allowances for purchased services.

Premises

Perhelä of Vilppula prison is suggested to be used in family work and as a national family work unit for courses arranged to prisoners. Other regions should be able to use premises for family camps close enough so that the trips of the relatives would not be unduly long.

Training and work guidance of personnel

Through the training of personnel one can influence that all personnel groups share the goals also as far as family work is concerned. It is crucial to understand the importance of the family. It should be included in the education that gives competence, and in centralised and local complementary education. Focused training should be arranged on programmes to be adopted which are connected for instance with the support of parenthood and reduction of family violence. Officers doing family work should have an opportunity for outside education and work guidance.

Other necessary measures

Public discussion is needed on the position of prisoners' families. The close relatives should be better informed. The working group wishes that the NGO's working among prisoner could develop and intensify their family work by project activities.

Additional information:

Special Adviser Vuokko Karsikas, tel. +358 9 259 88479, vuokko.karsikas@om.fi

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