Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

The "problem" of health

An analysis of health care provision in Canada's federal prisons

Bibliographic Data

ID4218207
AuthorsEilish Scallan (0000-0002-2612-6010, McMaster University, corresponding author), K Lancaster (0000-0002-2411-7970, UNSW Sydney), Fiona Kouyoumdjian (McMaster University, Canada; Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital, Canada), Fiona G Kouyoumdjian (0000-0002-6869-7516, St. Michael's Hospital)
Year2021
Volume25
Issue1
Pages3-20
Publication date2021-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health Illness and Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1363-4593 • E-ISSN: 1461-7196
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1363459319846940
PMID31055943
OpenAlexW2944589901
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited30

The United Nations states that prisoners should enjoy the same standards of health care that are available in the community. Despite this, persons in prison experience barriers to care and face unique health challenges. Given the ways in which prisons shape health outcomes for incarcerated persons, it is important to interrogate how the provision of health care is governed in custodial settings. In this article, we examine one important aspect of governance: legislation governing the provision of health care in prisons. We view this issue through a critical lens, building on a body of poststructural scholarship which has illuminated how laws and policies are not merely tools of governance but also key sites for the production of meanings around social "problems," including the "problem of health." Taking Canada's Corrections and Conditional Release Act as a case example and applying Carol Bacchi's "What's the Problem Represented to Be" analytical framework, we examine how the specific representation of "health" in this legislation works to produce effects for persons in federal prison. Three key themes are formed through this analysis. First, what constitutes "essential services" in the context of federal prisons is more limited compared with the broader community. Second, the dichotomy between the rights of persons in prison versus the protection of society that is produced in development of these laws has significant bearing on the treatment of those in prison. Third, this representation has negative effects on the health of persons in prison. In order to meet United Nations standards, greater attention must be paid to the ways in which laws and other governing practices reproduce inequities in health care provision in prisons

Business · Corporate governance · Health care · Legislation · Political science · Prison · Public relations · Scholarship · Sociology · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Public Administration

  • They’re Just Watching You All the Time”

    Open Access•Liam Michaud, Emily Van Der Meulen•Surveillance & Society•2023

  • A Collaborative Approach to Understanding the Intersections of Practice and Policy for Peers in the Alcohol and Other Drugs Sector

    Open Access•Timothy Piatkowski, Emma Kill•International Journal of…•2024

  • ‘I can see your pain, but I don't want to help you’

    Sahil K Thorul, Carolyn Côté-Lussier et al.•Psychology, Crime & Law•2026

  • Learning to labor in prison

    Open Access•Luca Sterchele•Oñati Socio-legal Series•2024

  • Representations of alcohol and drug use in the Finnish reform of social and health care service users’ rights

    Open Access•Veera Kankainen, Anu Katainen et al.•International Journal of Drug…•2024

  • Telepsychiatry and mental health equity in correctional facilities

    Open Access•Dimitri Patrinos•Lex Electronica•2023

  • The health of prisoners

    Open Access•Seena Fazel, Jacques Baillargeon•The Lancet•2011

  • Global burden of HIV, viral hepatitis, and tuberculosis in prisoners and detainees

    Open Access•Katherine Dolan, Kate Dolan et al.•The Lancet•2016

  • A meta-analysis of predictors of offender treatment attrition and its relationship to recidivism.

    Mark E Olver, Keira C Stockdale et al.•Journal of Consulting and…•2011

  • Foucault, Health and Medicine

    Robin Bunton, Alan Petersen•Foucault, Health and Medicine•2002

  • Poststructural Policy Analysis

    Open Access•Carol Bacchi, Simon Goodwin et al.•Poststructural Policy Analysis•2016

  • Producing the ‘problem of drugs’

    Open Access•K Lancaster, Karen Duke et al.•International Journal of Drug…•2015

  • Laws prohibiting peer distribution of injecting equipment in Australia

    Open Access•K Lancaster, Kate Seear et al.•International Journal of Drug…•2015

  • Why Study Problematizations? Making Politics Visible

    Open Access•Carol Bacchi•Open Journal of Political Science•2012

  • Barriers to Care

    Marie Mckeary, K Bruce Newbold et al.•Journal of Refugee Studies•2010

  • I Lost Me Visits”

    Open Access•Shelley Walker, K Lancaster et al.•Contemporary Drug Problems•2018

  • Access to Care, Health Status, and Health Disparities in the United States and Canada

    Karen E Lasser, David U Himmelstein et al.•American Journal of Public Health•2006

  • Principles for the Justification of Public Health Intervention

    Open Access•Ross Upshur, R E G Upshur•Canadian Journal of Public Health•2002

  • Persons in correctional facilities in Canada

    Open Access•Fiona G Kouyoumdjian, Kathryn E McIsaac•Canadian Journal of Public Health•2015

  • Brief History of Neoliberalism

    Desley J Harvey, David Harvey et al.•BRIEF HISTORY OF NEOLIBERALISM.•2005

  • The Embodiment of Inequity

    Open Access•Naomi Adelson•Canadian Journal of Public Health•2005

  • Privatizing Responsibility

    Open Access•Suzan Ilcan•Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue…•2009

  • The addict as victim

    Open Access•Kate Seear, Fraser•International Journal of Drug…•2014

  • Putting at risk what we know

    Open Access•David Moore, David B Moore et al.•Social Science & Medicine•2006

  • Unhealthy prisons

    Open Access•N De Viggiani•Sociology of Health & Illness•2007

Unique citing works6
Citations per year2
Citation span2023 - 2026 (4)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 5
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae