- 20 v)
social and family ties
63.
The health care service may also help to limit the disruption of social and family ties which
usually goes hand in hand with imprisonment. It should support - in association with the relevant social
services - measures that foster prisoners' contacts with the outside world, such as properly-equipped
visiting areas, family or spouse/partner visits under appropriate conditions, and leaves in family,
occupational, educational and socio-cultural contexts.
According to the circumstances, a prison doctor may take action in order to obtain the grant or
continued payment of social insurance benefits to prisoners and their families.
e.
Humanitarian assistance
64.
Certain specific categories of particularly vulnerable prisoners can be identified. Prison health
care services should pay especial attention to their needs.
i)
mother and child
65.
It is a generally accepted principle that children should not be born in prison, and the CPT's
experience is that this principle is respected.
66.
A mother and child should be allowed to stay together for at least a certain period of time. If the
mother and child are together in prison, they should be placed in conditions providing them with the
equivalent of a creche and the support of staff specialised in post-natal care and nursery nursing.
Long-term arrangements, in particular the transfer of the child to the community, involving its
separation from its mother, should be decided on in each individual case in the light of pedo-psychiatric
and medico-social opinions.
ii)
adolescents
67.
Adolescence is a period marked by a certain reorganisation of the personality, requiring a
special effort to reduce the risks of long-term social maladjustment.
While in custody, adolescents should be allowed to stay in a fixed place, surrounded by
personal objects and in socially favourable groups. The regime applied to them should be based on
intensive activity, including socio-educational meetings, sport, education, vocational training, escorted
outings and the availability of appropriate optional activities.
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