Prisons in Poland

As of 2007, there were 85 prisons in Poland (zakłady karne). As of 31.12.2007, Polish prisons had the official capacity of 79213 and reported number of inmates at 87776.

Prisons are administered by Służba Więzienna (Polish: Prison Service) - Polish corrections officers. They fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Poland.

The largest prison in Poland is the Wronki Prison.

Polish Prison Care

A key aspect of Prisons in Poland is their prison care. The levels of care in Polish prisons are worth looking into as they seem to under-perform in some aspects. Polish government is what seems to hold the prisons back, “not understanding the problems faced by the prison system and prisons are low on the government’s list of priorities”.[1] At the time of this article, the prisons were also experiencing overcrowding, leading to several other issues within the prisons. One of which was the prisons comfortability, and health has a whole. The, “space per prisoner was often less than the stated minimum in their legislation,”,[1] meaning that they were forced to cram several prisoners into cells made for a much smaller group of prisoners. Health care in prisons can be problematic however, as there is rising drug usage in the country as a whole. This means that the usage of drugs in the prisons is on an increase as well. When investigating the prisons in Poland they found that, “drugs in prison are mostly eaten not injected, as syringes have not been found”.[1] In an attempt to combat the problems found in Polish prisons, MacDonald states that they will be instituting methadone substitutions in two prisons to try and assist the 1000 addicts in prisons. However, the biggest problem when it comes to substance abuse in Poland is alcohol. 19 prisons in Poland have a program instilled in them. They handle the program as such. “Prisoners on this project have to attend the project, as part of their sentence. They undergo both individual and group therapy and live on the unit with five or three to a cell. They wear their own clothes and have to eat together. They are out of the cell from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. There are 49 prisoners on the programme and it lasts for three months”.[1] Furthering their care with programs such as this can help the country to correct this problem found in their prisons.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 MacDonald, M. (2001). Prison health care in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations.


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