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Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is highly prevalent in people with mental disorders (PWMDs). However, in the international context of HCV elimination, no previous study has explored the features of seropositive PWMDs with vs. without a positive viral load (VL). We retrospectively retrieved all HCV serology results of patients hospitalized in 2019, 2020 and 2021 in the second‐largest psychiatric hospital of France. Using the medical records of all patients found seropositive for HCV, the following data were collected: sex (male, female), age (in years), previous history of illicit drug use except cannabis (yes or no) and previous history of incarceration (yes or no). We conducted a case–control comparison of these variables between the PWMDs who had and did not have a positive VL, thus providing odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (ORs [95% CI]). In a total of 13,276 inpatients, 2540 (19.1%) underwent at least one HCV serology; 55 of them (2.16%) were found positive. A VL count was performed for 48 of them, finding 15 (31.3%) individuals with active HCV. Compared with those with a negative VL, these 15 individuals were less likely to have previous documented illicit drug use (OR = 0.18; 95% CI [0.05–0.68]) and to have been previously incarcerated (OR = 0.23; 95% CI [0.06–0.99]); age and sex did not statistically differ. In the context of HCV elimination, PWMDs yet to be treated for HCV are more likely to be those with no identified risk factor for HCV, which supports a strategy of systematic screening for HCV among PWMDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the fight against Islamist radicalization in France, prison intelligence rapidly developed from 2015 through the gradual creation of a dedicated service and a specific corps of professionals. This professionalization of prison intelligence work has deeply transformed the prison administration. This article aims to describe and analyse these transformations on the basis of an ethnographic study conducted in radicalization assessment units, which are specific units set up to assess prisoners who have committed or are suspected of committing crimes linked to radical Islam. We shall describe how the guards, probation officers, psychologists and educators participating in assessing the prisoners adapt to the new, encroaching presence of the intelligence mission. We shall analyse the forms of collaboration and competition between this staff and the prison intelligence officers. Lastly, we will examine criticism of the intelligence activity in the radicalization assessment units voiced by various professionals. The interpenetration of the assessment work and the intelligence mission – which are formally distinct missions – produces a specific type of knowledge relating to radicalized prisoners: a reproduction of certain representations or 'profiles'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In northern countries, suicide rates among prisoners are at least three times higher for men and nine times higher for women than in the general population. The objective of this study is to describe the sociodemographic, penal, health characteristics and circumstances of suicide of French prisoners who died by suicide. Methods: This study is an intermediate analysis of the French epidemiological surveillance program of suicides in prison. All suicides in prison in 2017–2018 in France were included in the study. Archival sociodemographic and penal data and specific data on the circumstances of the suicidal act were provided by the National Prison Service. Health data was provided by physicians working in prison using a standardized questionnaire. Results: In 2017–2018, 235 prisoners died by suicide. The suicide rate was 16.8/10 000 person-years. Among suicide cases, 94.9% were male, 27.2% were under 30, 25.1% were aged 30 to 39, 27.7% were aged 40 to 49 and 20.0% were 50 or older. At the time of suicide, 48.5% were on custodial remand. Incarceration is associated with a threefold increase in the frequency of anxio-depressive disorders (24.6% in prison versus 8.2% before prison). The week before the suicidal act, 60% of prisoners visited the health unit and a significant event was detected for 61% of all cases. Suicide was less than 1 week after prison entry for 11.9% of prisoners, corresponding to a suicide rate 6.4 (CI95% [4.3 – 9.5]) times higher than for the remaining time in prison, and was more than 1 year after entry for 33.7% of them. Conclusions: The high frequency of events the week before suicide in our study suggests that events in prison could play a role in the occurrence of suicides. Comparative studies are needed to further explore the time association between events and suicide in prison. As most of prisoners who died by suicide visited the health unit the week before suicide, the identification of triggering factors could help psychiatrists and other health professionals to assess the short-term risk of suicide and to implement preventive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among prisoners remains a major public health issue worldwide. In France, despite the increasing number of persons who are incarcerated (+30% between 1992 and 2002 with a 120% prison overcrowding), and a historical concern about the mental health of persons in detention and its management, no systematic review has been published on this subject. The aim of this article is to present the results of a systematic review of the literature on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in French prisons., Method: The reporting of this systematic review conforms to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) checklist. We searched the PubMed and Web of Science databases. We used combinations of keywords relating to prison (prison*, jail*, inmate*), to psychiatry ("mental health", psychiatr*), and to France (France, French). This work was completed with a search through the digital libraries of the École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique (EHESP) and of the Système Universitaire de Documentation (Sudoc) to obtain data from academic works and the gray literature. References cited in studies included in this review were also examined. All references published up to September 2022, written in English or French, presenting the results of original quantitative studies on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in correctional settings were included. Two researchers independently extracted data from included references according to a pre-established protocol., Results: Among 501 records identified, a total of 35 papers based on 24 epidemiological studies met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in this review: 16 were cross-sectional, 7 retrospective and 1 both cross-sectional and retrospective. All papers were published between 1999 and 2022. We found one European study, 5 international studies, 18 regional or local studies. Of these, 21 studies had all-male or mixed gender samples (but when the sample was mixed gender, it was always at least 92% male). Almost half of the studies (n=11) involved a small sample of fewer than 500 persons. Half of the studies involved a sample of recently incarcerated persons: 6 involved a random sample of persons in detention, and 1 involved a sample of people incarcerated for more than 5 years. The last 5 studies focused on persons aged over 50 years and incarcerated for more than one year (n=1), incarcerated for sexual offences (n=2), placed in disciplinary cells (n=1) or in a special wing for radicalized or suspected radicalized individuals (n=1). Nine studies used standardized and validated diagnostic tools. According to the 4 studies involving representative samples and using standardized and validated diagnostic tools, the prevalence of the following psychiatric disorders was: 29.4-44.4% for anxiety disorders, 5-14.2% for PTSD, 28-31.2% for mood disorders, 6.9-17% for psychotic disorders, 32% for personality disorders and 11% for ADHD., Conclusion: This systematic review of the literature highlights the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in French prisons. The data collected are in line with international studies. The great methodological heterogeneity of the papers included in this review calls for further rigorous research to better understand the rates of mental disorders in French prisons and to explore their determinants., (Copyright © 2024 L'Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Britain and France were at war with each other for over half of the long eighteenth century. This period of sustained conflict produced immense changes, in both countries, in the character of the state and the course of economic development. Yet one of the most obvious ways in which contemporaries would have encountered the war was in the presence of large numbers of prisoners of war held by their country. Early in the century there were thousands of such captives, and by its end they numbered in the tens of thousands. Renaud Morieux takes this neglected topic for the focus of his multifaceted study. These prisoners created challenges that were legal and diplomatic, as well as administrative and financial. The citizens of each country found themselves having to learn to live with captives of a nation with which they were at war. In a work that is both theoretically informed and exhaustively researched, Morieux offers fresh insight into the consequences of war for European society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing vaccination knowledge is effective in addressing hesitancy and is particularly important in populations deprived of liberty who may not routinely have access to health information, ensuring health equity. RISE-Vac is a European Union-funded project aiming to promote vaccine literacy, offer, and uptake in prisons in Europe. We consulted persons living in prisons in the United Kingdom (through the Prisoner Policy Network), France, and Moldova to determine their vaccination knowledge gaps, the information they would like to receive, and how they would like to receive it. We received 344 responses: 224 from the United Kingdom, 70 from France, and 50 from Moldova. Participants were particularly interested in learning about the effectiveness, side effects, and manufacturing of vaccines. Their responses guided the development of educational materials, including a brochure that will be piloted in prisons in Europe. Persons with experience of imprisonment were involved at every stage of this project.

Since the healthcare system reform in prisons by the law of 18 January 1994, health care for prisoners has depended on the public hospital service. Since the application of this law, hospital pharmacists have been responsible for the health product circuit in the prison. In order to reassess the overall health care of detainees in prison in 2022, a study is being carried out. This study also aims to carry out an inventory of the organization of the drug circuit in prisons in France. In June 2022, a questionnaire was sent by email to pharmacists in charge of supplying health products to one or more prison health units in France. The response rate to the questionnaire is 34 %. The average number of full-time equivalent (FTE) somatic doctors is 1.25. The average FTE pharmacist and pharmacy technician are respectively 0.4 and 0.96. Prescriptions are computerized in 84 % of cases. Therapeutic education and pharmaceutical interviews are carried out in 24 % and 20 % respectively. This study showed an overall improvement in the care of prisoners and the organization of the medication circuit in France compared to the last study. Pharmacists are more present in prisons. However, clinical pharmacy and health promotion actions are insufficiently deployed., (Copyright © 2023 Académie Nationale de Pharmacie. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

In France, prison leave (permission) is awarded to prisoners by a reentry judge (juge de l'application des peines, JAP) as part of a multi-agency commission, a process that takes place in prison and comprises the governor, prison and probation officers, and the prosecutor. Numerous rules govern this measure. This paper draws upon a number of previous research studies conducted by the author on the following topics: the legal theorisation of a sentence's implementation (Author 1994 , 2017a); a quantitative-qualitative study of JAPs' practices, hearings and rulings (Author 2014); and a mixed method study of a so-called swift release procedure (Author 2017b). Consequently, two series of issues are identified: The first issue pertains to the lack of due process principles governing the decision-making process. Prisoners who apply for permissions have no 'voice', according to Tyler's (2012) definition of the term. The second issue is connected to the very rationale behind permissions. Before an Act of 26 March 2019, permissions were primarily concerned with ensuring that prisoners' reentry process was prepared, that prisoners could complete the steps required to prepare for their release and that they could maintain contact with their loved ones and support systems. They also represented a form of test, used by JAPs to ensure that prisoners could be trusted in the outside world. In other words, they were focused on resettlement and rehabilitation. However, the 2019 Act transferred most of the decision-making process to prison governors. There is now a fear that because their main interest is on maintaining order, permission allocation will shift from an emphasis on reentry-rehabilitation to behavioural criteria and the local situation regarding overcrowding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few studies have examined the consumption trajectories of inmates after entry to prison. The aim of this study was to assess the changes in the consumption of psychoactive substance between the period before detention and during incarceration and to characterize the profiles of prisoners with similar consumption trajectories during incarceration. Methods and findings: A multicenter, cross-sectional study was performed in all of the prisons from one region of France. All prisoners incarcerated during their 3rd months, over 18 years old, and with a sufficient level of French fluency to participate in the study were recruited over a period of 12 months. A total of 800 prisoners were recruited. All prisoners were interviewed face-to-face by a trained interviewer. A majority of prisoners had used at least one psychoactive substance in the weeks prior to incarceration. During incarceration, a substantial reduction in alcohol and illicit drug consumption was observed. The initiation of consumption and an increase in consumption were primarily related to medications. Five different profiles of consumption before incarceration were identified. These profiles all had a high probability of migrating to a similar profile during detention, characterized by less severe consumption of psychoactive substances. Conclusions: Based on their consumption profile prior to incarceration, most prisoners would benefit from a specific medical evaluation as soon as possible following entry into detention. Prison could be an opportunity for reduced consumption and/or the initiation of treatment for the majority of prisoners, despite the pejorative development observed for a minority of prisoners during incarceration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Very few studies have examined the mental disorders of elderly prisoners and the difficulties related to their management. For this study, 40 prison workers were interviewed (custodial staff, social workers, and probation officers) to assess staff professional practices and approaches in managing elderly inmates. Findings showed highly ambivalent attitudes to the age-related vulnerabilities of elderly incarcerees, at both emotional and professional levels. Staff attempts to make the incarcerated elderly conform to some four traditional images of the prisoner roles (enemy/citizen/threat/user) may lead some prison staff to use emotional defense mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poor living conditions in prisons -- a regular topic of public debate in France -- have effects on mental and physical health. An article in Population 69(4), 2014 analysed the excess suicide mortality of the prison population in relation to the general population. What is the situation for other causes of death? This article extends the analysis to all causes of violent and natural deaths in the male population and examines the conditions in which these deaths occur. The results show the potentially harmful effects of prison on inmate survival. Suspensions of sentence for medical reasons limit the frequency of natural deaths in detention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On January 1st, 2017, there were 78,796 inmates serving time in French prisons (59,300) or on remand (19,498). However, this official number includes those serving part of their time in 'prisoners' serving a 'measure under prison registry', ie either a 'semi-freedom' measure, where they spend part of their time in prison (usually night-time and weekends) and part of their time in the community having activities (eg Employment, treatment), or a 'placement in the community', ie a measure where the person is placed in the French equivalent of approved premises, or is serving time at home with an electronic monitoring device 'unless the court has issued a bench warrant, prison sentences of up to two years (one year if the person is a recidivist in the narrow legal sense) are' The main lesson for English parole is that it is paramount, In other words, strictly speaking, there were 68,432 people detained full time in prison. There were at the same time 164,146 people on probation, a term which includes people serving a community sentence or released prisoners on licence who are supervised by the probation services and/or charities.1 Statistics for lifers were provided by he Ministry of Justice in 2018, for 2015: there were only 541.2 France has a 'life without parole' system, which consists in a life sentence and the equivalent of a tariff (mesure de sûreté) which is itself perpetual in nature, which makes release impossible before thirty years.3 No official statistics exist concerning 'true' life, probably because they sheer number is so minimal. A personal contact with the Observatoire international des prisons (Sept., 5, 2018) (International prison watch, France) has revealed that a total of four people had been sentenced to true life since its creation in 1994, one of whom has since died. Clearly, France appears rather unique in terms of its approach to sentencing. Moreover, probation and parole are part of a unique legal and institutional domain called 'sentence implementation' or 'sentence management', which associates the prison and probation services and the judiciary, notably a 'sentence implementation judge' (juge de l'application des peines, JAP). In essence, France sees sentence management as being part of the penal continuum and as being a dynamic process in which important decisions are made by the JAP, and daily supervision is performed by the probation services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with Maarten van de Donk, senior consultant at the Radicalization Awareness Network (RAN) Secretariat, is presented. He talks about connecting people dealing with radicalization throughout Europe as the goal of RAN. He discusses difficulties in effectively sharing information across state boundaries, violent extremism and provision of policy advisors to the European Commission.. He mentions that how the first de-radicalization programmes in French prisons came into existence.

The "transitional mobile team" has been developed to optimize the management of the transition from prison to the community for people with psychiatric disorders in France. The objectives are to limit the risk of relapse and death during this high-risk period and to ensure the links between psychiatry in prison and community psychiatry., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Prisoners constitute a high-risk population, particularly for infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to estimate the level of infectious risk in the prisons of five different European countries by measuring to what extent the prison system adheres to WHO/UNODC recommendations.Methods: Following the methodology used in a previous French survey, a postal/electronic questionnaire was sent to all prisons in Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Italy to collect data on the availability of several recommended HIV-HCV prevention interventions and HBV vaccination for prisoners. A score was built to compare adherence to WHO/UNODC recommendations (considered a proxy of environmental infectious risk) in those 4 countries. It ranged from 0 (no adherence) to 12 (full adherence). A second score (0 to 9) was built to include data from a previous French survey, thereby creating a 5-country comparison.Results: A majority of prisons answered in Austria (100 %), France (66 %) and Denmark (58 %), half in Belgium (50 %) and few in Italy (17 %), representing 100, 74, 89, 47 and 23 % coverage of the prison populations, respectively. Availability of prevention measures was low, with median adherence scores ranging from 3.5 to 4.5 at the national level. These results were confirmed when using the second score which included France in the inter-country comparison. Overall, the adherence score was inversely associated with prison overpopulation rates (p = 0.08).Conclusions: Using a score of adherence to WHO/UNODC recommendations, the estimated environmental infectious risk remains extremely high in the prisons of the 5 European countries assessed. Public health strategies should be adjusted to comply with the principle of equivalence of care and prevention with the general community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the process of conducting prison research in France. Drawing on a study conducted with a sample of prisoners in a maximum-security facility in Paris, this article outlines the major challenges relating to access, data collection, and dissemination of results in correctional research. It also addresses some of the barriers that are inherent to prison research conducted in a setting foreign to the researcher. The value and place of prison research in the field of criminology are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In France today, sport is considered to be a fundamental element of the educational offer in the prison environment, especially because it represents in the eyes of the majority an activity that is capable of channelling violence and violent behaviours, although this exemplary effect of education cannot be taken for granted. It is based, in fact, on a commonly accepted opinion and on evidence that is rarely questioned and is even contradicted in recent studies. But can sport, as a more or less formalised pedagogical, institutional and/or sociopolitical project, continue to be ‘educational’ in particular social spaces, like prison, which in essence distorts the conditions of unconstrained free practice and cultural dissemination? Starting from a case study, focused on France, the aim of this paper is to question the relation of sport with the calming qualities and/or, on the contrary, those that produce force fields, not by isolating it and constructing an improvised model but rather by re-inserting it into the issue of pacifying social fields, that is by re-integrating sports practice in the very place which gives it a sense and literally one which incarnates a motor praxeology with constraints – not to say control. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this study was to describe the role of spirituality and religiousness (SR) among detainees. Thirty detainees from a French short-stay prison were assessed with the World Health Organization Quality of Life–Spirituality Religion and Personal Beliefs questionnaire (WHOQOL-SRPB) and with open questions about SR. Forty percent of detainees described SR as an important way of coping with incarceration and stressful events, as a means of finding inner peace, showing altruism, and gaining the respect of others. SR involvement was associated with reports of decreased suicide risk and of the prevention of future offences. SR appears to be an important coping mechanism and may help the transition to the community following incarceration. This study endorses the view that SR should be considered when treating this population. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the criminal gangs in France. Topics discussed include S##tland, a territory of a gang transformed into a supermarket of drugs which has been closed by the police on October 14, 2011, the gangsta rap, an expression of gang psychology, and gangbanging which established a particular relationship with prison.

This article argues that while France's old penology remains well defended due to professional discretion and individualization of professional judgment in high security prisons (maisons centrales), a new penal trend akin to an actuarial justice is observed in detention centres. This trend consists in governing 'at a distance' a mixed population of very different prisoner types. However, a cacophony of voices in the decision-making process, discretion, professional and unions stakes, face-to-face interactions, abilities of inmates to negotiate with staff members as well as disconnections and contradictions between fields of decision making are factors that explain the failure of the new penology in the most secure prisons. These organizational and professional factors are not linked to political conditions such as the welfare state or the new management of poverty as indicated by the authors of the new penology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of psychiatric care in prisons is relatively recent, and the regional medical-psychological services - initially called regional medical-psychological centers - were established in the different regions of France from 1977 onwards. Their main missions are the prevention and treatment of mental illnesses and addictions, as well as the organization of post-prison psychiatric care. Composed of multidisciplinary teams, they offer individual or group assessments and follow-up, as well as more specific care for certain penal populations., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The prison population in France is mostly composed of young but aging men, in relatively good health but vulnerable. In order to ensure optimal health care for this population, several levels of health care organization - somatic and psychiatric - have been set up since 1994. The different structures created since then allow incarcerated patients to benefit from care adapted to their particular conditions., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

In France, on the 1 st  march 2022, 656 underage persons are in prison. They have more psychiatric and substance use disorders compared to the juveniles in the general population. In prison, health care is organized according to three levels. A global and partnership approach is promoted. The main objectives are prevention, risk reduction and continuity of care., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The specially equipped hospital units (UHSA) receive detainees in the region (men, women, minors) requiring full psychiatric hospitalization, either in free care or in care by decision of the State representative. They are located on the site of hospitals, but a penitentiary enclosure allows for the control of the entry and exit of patients, as well as the security of the perimeter. To date, nine UHSAs are in operation in France., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

The mission of the inter-regional secure hospital units is to care for incarcerated prisoners. There are eight of them in metropolitan France, one in each prison region. They are jointly managed by the health establishments for care and by the prison administration for security. Each prisoner receives care equivalent to that provided to the rest of the population., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

This article purports to show the change in the pattern of radicalization in French prisons over the last decade. Contrary to the extrovert model of radicalization in place up to the beginning years of the twenty-first century where a dozen people could be involved, the new one is introverted, based on very few individuals (mostly two or three people), and in contrast to the previous network in which people with psychological troubles were marginalized, psychopaths or psychically disturbed people can now play a major role. Whereas the extrovert model was easy to detect according to a profiling based on features like long beards, overt proselytizing, aggressive attitudes towards authorities and fundamentalist behaviour models, the new attitude avoids all those features and people exposed to radicalization have internalized the non-visible conduct pattern in order not to attract the attention of the authorities. The article explores some new attitudes resulting in radicalization and the major stumbling-blocks encountered by prison authorities in their attempts to unearth them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents an investigation which offers a look at correctional institutions from the perspectives of prisoners' families. Several questions are considered, including the power of a correctional institution outside of its walls. The author notes that the investigation is based on interviews conducted with circa 60 prisoners' relatives at several prisons throughout France. She sheds light on how incarceration impacts the daily lives of the prisoners' families and looks at their interactions and relationships. Topics include the economic aspects of imprisonment, how prison life affects the health of prisoners, and prison reforms geared toward family relationships and rehabilitation in France.

French prison based probation services merged with their community based counterparts in 1999. This reform was aimed at placing the service under the wing of prison services and to reduce the influence of the judiciary. Despite still adhering to their rehabilitative goals and to a one-to-one pre-Martinson type of supervision, French probation services have long abandoned social work. Their exceptionally heavy caseload, a prevailing prison thinking, their newly acquired judicial work and managerialism explain this evolution. French probation services present an odd mix of old traits, insularism, and denial of recent scientific progress, with penal transferring, modern management and frenetic law reforming. All this has generated an identity crisis along with work-related stress. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses an expiatory chapel in the prison cell where Queen Marie-Antoinette of France was held in 1793 in the Conciergerie prison in Paris, France. The author suggests that the prison cell was entirely transformed into a chapel in 1816 by the Bourbon monarchy following the French Revolution. Other topics include the decoration of the chapel including paintings depicting Marie-Antoinette and the loss of historical accuracy in the transformation of the cell into a chapel.

The analysis herein considers the dynamics of panopticism by developing further the concept of counter-surveillance—or counterveillance—whereby prison officials rather than the prisoners become the target of unwanted attention. While maintaining an interest in panoptic as well as synoptic theory, the article describes two counterveillant tactics deployed by Foucault and the Groupe d’Information sur les Prisons (GIP) in France during the 1970s. First, the GIP turned the prison inside out, in a manner of speaking, so as to publicly expose the harsh conditions of confinement. Second, the group set out to watch the watchers in an effort to hold certain prison administrators accountable for their unjust policies and practices. Implications of optical activism aimed at improving transparency in penal operations also are discussed alongside the limits of such protest. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Abstract: Morality is one of the most important elements of social actions, specifically in medical settings. Unfortunately, in social science, morality is often undertheorized and can lead to moralism. The aim of the paper is to test the “moral economy theory” which highlights the link between some local moral evaluations and a political context. We focus on “treatment” as therapeutic tool and as moral regulation of patients in a French remand centre. On the basis of an ethnography of forms of care for prisoners (2009–2010), and semi-directed interviews with working mental health professionals (n = 10), we analyse their engagement and their moral expectations of the prisoners under their care. Firstly, we show how prisoners are selected and then converted into patients deserving of attention (expectations of honesty, sincerity and compliance). Secondly, we show how these patients are divided into three main intervention categories, in which the treatment is both therapeutic and moral (expectations of responsibility, recognition of guilt, and self-esteem). Finally, we discuss these moral criteria within a new moral economy of vulnerability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Libraries have existed in French prisons since the mid-nineteenth century, and for more than a century the French Penitentiary Administration has made an effort to structure and organize them as well as to monitor what books are made available to inmates. The role and impact of these libraries has evolved slowly over time, and over the years central control was gradually relaxed. In the early 1980s, cooperative efforts between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Justice opened the door for new political direction that facilitated the opening of correctional facilities to the eyes of the outside world and encouraged representatives of cultural organizations to become involved with the prison population behind the wall. Prison libraries subsequently underwent a profound transformation when public library professionals began to venture inside the prisons in order to reorganize the existing book storage areas (which had been inaccessible to inmates) into proper libraries, like those they managed in the outside world. An examination of the situation in the Rhone-Alps region of France serves as a useful starting point for an examination of the development of prison libraries over the past twenty years, as well as a discussion of the difficulties encountered and the prospects for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that preventing ‘suicide risks’ in French prison regulations is thwarted in two prisons by professional criteria regarding credibility and solidarity, as well as by the balance of power between prisoners and guards, in addition to the realization, on the part of the judges responsible for sentencing, of the risks posed by recidivists. The results of this study should provoke a re-evaluation of suicide prevention programmes when considered in the light of the numerous mediations and transcriptions between these programmes and their subsequent concretization in the culture and practices of prison employees. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Revue d'Histoire des Sciences Humaines is the property of Editions de la Sorbonne and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstracts of articles published within the issue are presented including "Foucault and "the Punitive Society"," "Alternatives to Prison" and "The State of French Prisons."

Copyright of Pouvoirs is the property of Editions du Seuil and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Pouvoirs is the property of Editions du Seuil and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)