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Meet a typical prisoner

The typical prisoner, according to research conducted both in Australia and overseas, is highly disadvantaged. Many enter prison from a position of disadvantage and return to prison soon after release. The following disadvantages are particularly associated with the prison population.


Mental health

  • Over one-third of those screened experienced an anxiety disorder in the previous 12 months, and the prevalence of psychosis in NSW inmates is 30 times higher than in the Australian community.
  • 14% of male receptions and 21% of female receptions had a diagnosis of depression, and one in twenty prisoners had attempted suicide in the previous 12 months.

Chronic physical ill health

  • The prevalence of infectious diseases is extremely high among the prison population.
  • The unnatural death rate of ex-prisoners in Victoria is ten times that of the general community. The greatest risk of unnatural death is in the weeks immediately following release.

Inadequate education and low levels of literacy

  • The prison population overall shows a very low level of education and poor literacy relative to the general population.
  • 80% of young offenders in one study had left school with no form of qualification, compared with 8% per cent in the general population.

Unemployment and welfare reliance

  • The prison population, and the homeless, face significant difficulties in securing and retaining employment.
  • Ex-prisoners with jobs commit fewer crimes than ex-prisoners without jobs. Ex-prisoners with higher income levels also commit fewer crimes than those with lower levels of income.

Aboriginality

  • Indigenous Australians are 16 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous Australians.
  • The social disadvantages experienced by this group (e.g. unemployment, poverty, alcohol abuse) are linked to this overrepresentation in the prison community.


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Gimme Shelter is funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs under the National Homelessness Strategy.

   

 

 

 

  
 

 

  

Site by Jack @ CRC