France
Interviews
Prison Insider reaches out to individuals with expertise on prison. This section offers untold insights and specialist opinions exploring various prison-related issues.
France: Olympic Games under control
Interview
Badinter, "a beacon of light in the mist"
Insights
Interview
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Death penalty
France
Robert Badinter, a leading figure in the abolition of the death penalty in France, passed away on 9 February. Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, director of Together Against the Death Penalty, became close with the former minister over time through their mutual cause. Here’s the story.
France: beyond the stigma
Interview
Europe
Discipline
Health
Mental health
Drugs
France
They are banned, but present nonetheless; denying the presence of illicit substances inside prison walls is dangerous from a medical and health point of view. Doctors of the World explained its approach.
France: drugs in prison, an open secret
Interview
France: on camera
Interview
Central America and the Caribbean
Activities
Rehabilitation
France
Basse-Terre prison in Guadeloupe provides prisoner rehabilitation programmes. Film director Mark Alexandre Montout visited the prison to film a cookery competition. Interview.
France: "a change of tactics"
Interview
Crises
Europe
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
France
In 2020, the French government was found to have violated the European Convention on Human Rights, due to demeaning detention conditions in French prisons. What is the state of affairs today? The National Human Rights Advisory Commission speaks on the issue.
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
France
Thierry Chantegret is a photographer with the French National Preventive Mechanism team. He spoke with us about the role of photography, his approach, and how he gets down to the facts.
Europe
Health
Mental health
Suicide
France
Fresnes, Fleury-Mérogis, la Santé: for 25 years, Cyrille Canetti witnessed the shift of prison psychiatry. (Critical) interview about psychiatry and prison.
France: poor prisons
Interview
Coronavirus
Pre-trial detention
Minors
Mental health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
France
The Controller-General for Places of Deprivation of Liberty feels ‘useful everywhere’. One year after taking office, Dominique Simonnot responds to our questions in a candid interview.
“Hearing the sounds of the city”
Interview
Facilities
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Work
France
Detention villages, open prisons, small prisons: what is there to say? We asked geographer Olivier Milhaud three questions. For him, large prisons built outside of cities are “a disaster”.
Material conditions
Facilities
Alternatives
Work
France
Does having a prison in a region represent a money-making venture? Does it generate jobs? Does it increase the total amount of funds granted to a municipality? The point of view of Isabelle Leroux.
France: place for security
Interview
Europe
Justice
Material conditions
Overcrowding
France
The increase in resources allocated to the prison administration is mainly focused on creating new prison places, to the detriment of reintegration. Organisations are outraged by this.
France: for moral sociology in prison
Interview
Europe
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Violence
Rehabilitation
France
How can we consider prison critique? What tools can be used to adapt the role of prisons and the meaning of sentences? Is there hope for a successful outcome?
France: a deceptive protection
Interview
Women
Europe
Justice
Violence
France
The proliferation of surveillance systems and an increased reliance on incarceration are meant to curb violence. But what are the implications of this kind of security? Françoise Vergès is a feminist, anti-racist author. Her most recent work, entitled Une théorie féministe de la violence. Pour une…
Coronavirus
Culture
Europe
Justice
France
Concertina’s goal is to convene people from various backgrounds and disciplines, all motivated by detention and incarceration.
Women
Europe
Long-term prisoners
France
As of January 2020, women represent 3.6% of the total incarcerated population. Across 187 French correctional facilities, only three exclusively house women. Yet more women than men are sentenced to prison terms exceeding ten years.
What role does gender-based violence play in the incarceration of…
France: indiscriminate surveillance
Interview
Crises
Pre-trial detention
Europe
Facilities
France
There are 1,500 individuals who are identified as “radicalised” prisoners. How are they evaluated? By whom? What is their pre-trial detention like?
Coronavirus
Europe
Health
Mental health
Overcrowding
Social ties
France
How are authorities protecting prisoners from the second wave of the epidemic?
Can prisons serve to empower women?
Interview
Women
Access to legal rights
Justice
Social ties
Alternatives
France
Are tougher criminal penalties the solution to ending violence against women? Gwenola Ricordeau says no.
Religion and prison: higher things
Interview
Europe
Access to legal rights
Mental health
Social ties
Religion
France
Managing prisons (Latin America); providing spiritual care for inmates (Europe); practical support (Africa) – the role of prison chaplains varies from country to country.