Evaluating the Prison Integrated Support Unit (ISU).
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluating the Prison Integrated Support Unit (ISU): What Works, For Whom, In what Circumstances, How and Why.
IRAS ID
262043
Contact name
Wendy Dyer
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Northumbria at Newcastle
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
This is a research project which aims to support the development of a special unit in one adult male reception prison in the North East of England. The Integrated Support Unit (ISU) opened in October 2017 in response to issues facing prisoners waiting for transfer to psychiatric hospital. It aims to treat prisoners with serious mental illness while they either wait for transfer to hospital or become well enough to be transferred back to prison. The project will examine if the unit ‘works’, who it works for, how and why. Based on an analysis of the literature and discussions with key people including ISU staff and prisoner peer workers we will identify potential ideas which might explain the link between the ISU, what happens on the ISU, and what consequences prisoners admitted to the ISU experience (known as ‘Context/Mechanism/Outcome configurations’ or CMOc theories). Possible explanations will be tested to see which are correct and modify ideas as necessary. We will do this by collecting information from: interviews with ISU prisoners and key people; holding group workshops with ISU staff; observing the ISU physical environment; the ISU database of prisoners; wider information about psychiatric hospital bed availability and admissions; and any documents describing how the ISU should work. The information will be examined for common themes and patterns which match and do not match our possible explanations. We will present our findings for discussion to ISU prisoners and staff. The final report will describe the initial explanations tested; results of the information collection, analysis, and consultation; and an explanation of what happens for particular prisoners with serious mental illness, in what circumstances, and why and how it happens, in order to lead to particular consequences, which might then be considered for wider use across the prisons.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EE/0110
Date of REC Opinion
1 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion