-55 care of prison staff was violated through omission or negligence, for instance, if the prisoner mentioned many times that he needed help or that he was threatened, or point towards structural deficiencies that the prison management should address. 4.3.4. Surveys Surveys for prisoners and staff help to gather more evidence on certain aspects of prison life, because they make it possible to reach a higher number of persons. Furthermore, anonymized multiplechoice questionnaires may allow NPMs to ask more sensitive questions, such as if prisoners have been victims of violence by staff or other prisoners. Questions like these are normally harder for prisoners to answer truthfully in interviews, as their answers might be conflicting with the ‘the normalcy of violence in prison and the related necessity to demonstrate a strong ‘masculine’ identity.99 To make sure prisoners and staff feel free to express their opinions, the NPM should make sure that the envelopes for returning the survey can be sealed and that they are collected by a member of the NPM team. If conducted and analysed during the course of a visit, the results of the survey can be used to refocus on issues indicated or serve as an information source for acquiring additional evidence during interviews with prisoners and prison staff. GOOD PRACTICE NPM Romania - During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Romanian NPM started to use anonymous questionnaires to ask prisoners (and other person in places of deprivation of liberty) about various conditions in prison and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.100 Useful examples are the questionnaires developed by the HMIP and the OIP Ireland, as well as the Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) 99. Veronika Hofinger and Andreas Fritsche, ‘I’m Strong so Nothing Will Happen to Me’ – Practical and Methodological Findings from a Victimization Survey in Prison’ (2020) 103(1) Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform, 15–27. 100. The information was obtained through an interview with a member of the Romanian NPM. The questionnaire can be accessed here: Institutia Acovatul Poporului: Romanian Ombudsmen,Questionnaire<http://old.avpoporului.ro/index.php?option=com_content&view=article& id=528&Itemid=311&lang=ro-ro >. Monitoring Prison Violence

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents