Purpose of this category
The functional support (FS) category is intended to ensure that prisoners with severe behavioural problems or disability are managed in a way that:
- promotes safety and stability by minimising the risks that might accompany a prisoner with extreme instability within a prison environment, and
- improves personal and social functioning, to
- promote successful community re-integration, and
- reduce the likelihood of re-offending.
Goals of managing FS prisoners
The goals of managing FS prisoners include increasing the frequency of desirable behaviour and decreasing the frequency of undesirable behaviour.
Increasing the frequency of desirable behaviour
- appropriate communication: making requests, expressing dissatisfaction, listening to others, etc
- adequately managing emotional states (anger, frustration)
- interacting appropriately with others
- participation in available leisure and recreational activity
- co-operation with referrals and activities related to the offender plan
- compliance with a medical management regime (e.g. taking medication), and
- maintaining personal hygiene and grooming.
Decreasing the frequency of undesirable behaviour
- acts of self-harm
- destructive or disruptive behaviour
- impulsive and socially inappropriate behaviour
- covert/manipulative behaviour
- demands, complaints, allegations or threats, and
- social isolation.
Definition of functional support prisoners
Functional support prisoners are defined as having poor personal or social functioning, creating instability. Poor functioning of this type can be caused by:
- psychiatric illness
- intellectual disability
- personality disorder
- complex medical conditions.
Psychiatric illness
The following is a list of indications of psychiatric illness which can cause poor functioning:
- major disorders, especially schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder or conditions or syndromes caused by brain injury
- usually a well-documented history of treatment or hospitalisation
- community functioning typically featuring chronic unemployment, social isolation, substance abuse and transience
- emotional and behavioural disturbance often exacerbated by the prison experience.
Note: Risks include self-harm (suicide, self-mutilation), victimisation by other prisoners, general deterioration in functioning (often as a result of non-compliance with treatment) leading to hospitalisation.
Intellectual disability
The following is a list of indications of intellectual disability which can cause poor functioning:
- IQ less than 75
- social behaviour often inappropriate
- may present as “slow”, “immature” or demanding
- often a history of living in care-type situations; may be “institutionalised”.
Note: Risks include victimisation by other prisoners, non-compliant behaviour resulting in conflict with staff, unacceptably low level of general functioning (poor hygiene, etc).
Personality disorder
The following is a list of indications of personality disorder which can cause poor functioning:
- particularly antisocial, borderline or paranoid personality
- tendencies to be highly manipulative and destructive in interpersonal relationships
- prone to extremes of emotional instability
- staff can be “played off one against another” in pursuit of goals.
Note: Risks include self-harm (especially self-mutilation), general disruptiveness, violence.
Complex medical conditions
The following is a list of indications of complex medical conditions which can cause poor functioning:
- multiple diagnoses which interact and potentially exacerbate each other
- complex medical diagnoses significantly limiting participation in normal prison routines
- recurrent episodes of non-compliance with treatment regimes
- medical relapse can be stress-related
- usually older prisoners (45+).
Note: Risks include health deterioration leading to:
- repeated admissions to prison health unit or hospital
- high demands on nurses’ time or high number of callouts of medical staff.
