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5. GUIDANCE FOR THE EFFECTIVE MONITORING OF PRISON VIOLENCE
The following Part of the Handbook seeks to provide concrete monitoring
guidance on five main thematic issues that were identified as key for
preventing violence: 1) Safety and security and their perception by
prisoners and staff; 2) Ensuring accountability and protecting persons
at risks; 3) Living conditions of prisoners; 4) Staff-prisoners relations;
5) Staff professionalism and working conditions. This is not intended as
a comprehensive checklist but rather to raise awareness with NPMs on
certain topics that the Project findings showed to be important factors for
preventing violence in prisons. The guidance further aims to incorporate
innovative methodologies, such as systemic questions and appreciative
inquiry, as these can be particularly effective for the monitoring of violence.
It is based on several existing tools, which were further developed and
adapted by the authors to the topic of violence prevention.111 To improve
its accessibility, the guidance was arranged in ‘Key points’ and ‘Guiding
questions’. The ‘Key points’ aim at pinpointing aspects that might serve
as useful indicators. The ‘Guiding questions’ offer concrete examples of
questions that NPMs may find useful to look at for their own assessments,
for preparing interviews as well as for surveys.
5.1. Safety and security: The perception of safety and security of
prisoners and staff
KEY POINTS
» ASPECTS TO MONITOR: To monitor prison violence a key performance
indicator is whether prisoners and staff feel safe and secure, or in other
111. The guidance is based on HMIP, Expectations; the questionnaire of the HMIP - simplified excerpts of
which are available in the UNODC, ‘Assessing Compliance with the Nelson Mandela Rules – A Checklist
for Internal Inspection Mechanisms’ (2017) 75; as well as on Liebling, Prisons. Steve de Shazer, ‘What is
Solution-Focused Therapy?’ (24 January 2021) <https://solutionfocused.net/what-is-solution-focusedtherapy/ >.
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