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Welcome to the EuroPris Knowledge Management System. The table below shows questions and responses from European National Agencies. Select a question for more information or use the filters on the left to narrow down questions based on Agency or Category.
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Introduction: To better measure violence in prison establishments by trying to diversify the tools for collecting information, the French administration plans to carry out victimization surveys of both its staff and prisoners. We would like to know
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We don't use this techniques in a systematic way.
How do you proceed to carry them out in order to optimize the results and avoid the obstacles that would prevent their proper execution? What are the advantages of using such surveys?We are not using these tools.
How do you proceed to carry them out in order to optimize the results and avoid the obstacles that would prevent their proper execution? What are the advantages of using such surveys?No.
How do you proceed to carry them out in order to optimize the results and avoid the obstacles that would prevent their proper execution?-
What are the advantages of using such surveys?-
We do not use such tool.
How do you proceed to carry them out in order to optimize the results and avoid the obstacles that would prevent their proper execution? What are the advantages of using such surveys?This content is only available to registered members of EuroPris.
This content is only available to registered members of EuroPris.
This content is only available to registered members of EuroPris.
This content is only available to registered members of EuroPris.
HMPPS administers the Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) and Staff Quality of Life (SQL) surveys which are questionnaires that ask the respondent to report how it feels to live or work at their prison. It captures a broad range of underlying cultural concepts such as safety, fairness, and well-being. Both the MQPL and SQL questionnaires start with demographic questions followed by a series of statements where respondents are asked to indicate on a 1-5 Likert scale their level of agreement or disagreement. Each of the MQPL questionnaire statements refers to the quality of prison life; each of the SQL statements refers either to the quality of working life or to the staff member’s professional orientation toward prisoners. Statements are grouped into overall dimensions. For example, the MQPL survey has 13 dimensions which includes ‘Meeting Individual Needs’, ‘Personal Safety’ and ‘Family Contact. The surveys are intended to cast a light on outcomes as they are experienced by the staff and prisoners, rather than processes or simple indicators of performance. For example, the survey results tell us the extent to which staff and prisoners feel safe, which does not necessarily equate with whether or not a prison is compliant with policies and procedures about security and safety, or with the assault rate in the prison. It is a relative measure. There is no fixed point on the scale that is clearly ‘poor’, ‘acceptable’ or ‘good’ for each different dimension for all prisoner populations in all types of prison. To make the scores meaningful from one survey of an individual prison, we compare them to the same prison’s previous scores, and /or to scores from similar prisons.
How do you proceed to carry them out in order to optimize the results and avoid the obstacles that would prevent their proper execution?Generally, two team members will attend a prison in person to administer the surveys over a 3- or 4-day period. These team members belong to the MQPL team so are independent from the prison itself. MQPL methodology Regardless of the size of the establishment, we will sample the same number of participants: - In adult establishments we invite until 120 individuals agree to take participate, hoping that at least 100 will attend, or we invite the whole population if this is less than 120. - In establishments solely for Young Offenders, and in establishments for Children & Young People, we invite until 100 individuals agree to participate, hoping that at least 80 will attend, or we invite the whole population if this is less than 100. - In all establishments we invite a minimum of 20 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) participants and a minimum of 20 White participants, hoping that at least 15 from each group will attend. We invite the full population of BAME or White prisoners if the population is less than 20. The MQPL team randomly selects prisoners to be invited to participate from the full list of the prisoner population, divided into residential locations with each prisoner’s ethnicity stated. For each residential location the MQPL team selects two separate samples and draws up a primary list and a reserve list of prisoners for invitation. Once on site, the MQPL survey is administered in small groups of about 12 prisoners which allows for support to be provided in terms of literacy and allows for a group discussion at the end once the surveys have been completed. Both participants’ written comments and discussion comments are used to enhance our understanding of how people feel to live at work at the prison. Often we experience issues with attendance issues to groups, where this happens the MQPL team members will revisit the prisoners to see if they wish to complete the survey as a paper handout and if not will approach another selected person from the reserve list. SQL methodology There is no minimum sample size of staff members for the SQL survey and we aim to survey as many staff as possible. The sample is ‘opportunistic’ as it will consist of staff who are available to attend an organised session on the day rather than a randomly selected group. The SQL is available online and is emailed to all staff, whilst on site the team will also hand out paper versions of the survey and if possible conduct a ‘Full Staff Briefing’ whereby a large staffing group will attend just to complete the SQL survey.
What are the advantages of using such surveys?As MQPL uses a random stratified sample that is representative of the prison population, results can be generalised from the sample to the individual establishments whole population. These results are provided in a report as a management tool that provides the Governor and Senior Management Team a structured way of thinking about the qualities that underlie their prisons culture. Scores from the MQPL survey are also used to form four composite indicators for each prison establishment on the MOJ Prisons Performance Tool (PPT): Respect, Safety and Purposeful Activity for prisoners overall, and whether or not there is a difference in the Decency or Safety scores between White and Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) prisoners. We also use the collated data from all of the MQPL and SQL surveys to detect general trends and can analyse survey findings from across the prison estate and over time, to highlight common issues that give cause for concern, to identify good practice and to inform strategy and policy for commissioning and for business development.
HMPPS administers the Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) and Staff Quality of Life (SQL) surveys which are questionnaires that ask the respondent to report how it feels to live or work at their prison. It captures a broad range of underlying cultural concepts such as safety, fairness, and well-being. Both the MQPL and SQL questionnaires start with demographic questions followed by a series of statements where respondents are asked to indicate on a 1-5 Likert scale their level of agreement or disagreement. Each of the MQPL questionnaire statements refers to the quality of prison life; each of the SQL statements refers either to the quality of working life or to the staff member’s professional orientation toward prisoners. Statements are grouped into overall dimensions. For example, the MQPL survey has 13 dimensions which includes ‘Meeting Individual Needs’, ‘Personal Safety’ and ‘Family Contact. The surveys are intended to cast a light on outcomes as they are experienced by the staff and prisoners, rather than processes or simple indicators of performance. For example, the survey results tell us the extent to which staff and prisoners feel safe, which does not necessarily equate with whether or not a prison is compliant with policies and procedures about security and safety, or with the assault rate in the prison. It is a relative measure. There is no fixed point on the scale that is clearly ‘poor’, ‘acceptable’ or ‘good’ for each different dimension for all prisoner populations in all types of prison. To make the scores meaningful from one survey of an individual prison, we compare them to the same prison’s previous scores, and /or to scores from similar prisons.
How do you proceed to carry them out in order to optimize the results and avoid the obstacles that would prevent their proper execution?Generally, two team members will attend a prison in person to administer the surveys over a 3- or 4-day period. These team members belong to the MQPL team so are independent from the prison itself. MQPL methodology Regardless of the size of the establishment, we will sample the same number of participants: - In adult establishments we invite until 120 individuals agree to take participate, hoping that at least 100 will attend, or we invite the whole population if this is less than 120. - In establishments solely for Young Offenders, and in establishments for Children & Young People, we invite until 100 individuals agree to participate, hoping that at least 80 will attend, or we invite the whole population if this is less than 100. - In all establishments we invite a minimum of 20 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) participants and a minimum of 20 White participants, hoping that at least 15 from each group will attend. We invite the full population of BAME or White prisoners if the population is less than 20. The MQPL team randomly selects prisoners to be invited to participate from the full list of the prisoner population, divided into residential locations with each prisoner’s ethnicity stated. For each residential location the MQPL team selects two separate samples and draws up a primary list and a reserve list of prisoners for invitation. Once on site, the MQPL survey is administered in small groups of about 12 prisoners which allows for support to be provided in terms of literacy and allows for a group discussion at the end once the surveys have been completed. Both participants’ written comments and discussion comments are used to enhance our understanding of how people feel to live at work at the prison. Often we experience issues with attendance issues to groups, where this happens the MQPL team members will revisit the prisoners to see if they wish to complete the survey as a paper handout and if not will approach another selected person from the reserve list. SQL methodology There is no minimum sample size of staff members for the SQL survey and we aim to survey as many staff as possible. The sample is ‘opportunistic’ as it will consist of staff who are available to attend an organised session on the day rather than a randomly selected group. The SQL is available online and is emailed to all staff, whilst on site the team will also hand out paper versions of the survey and if possible conduct a ‘Full Staff Briefing’ whereby a large staffing group will attend just to complete the SQL survey.
What are the advantages of using such surveys?As MQPL uses a random stratified sample that is representative of the prison population, results can be generalised from the sample to the individual establishments whole population. These results are provided in a report as a management tool that provides the Governor and Senior Management Team a structured way of thinking about the qualities that underlie their prisons culture. Scores from the MQPL survey are also used to form four composite indicators for each prison establishment on the MOJ Prisons Performance Tool (PPT): Respect, Safety and Purposeful Activity for prisoners overall, and whether or not there is a difference in the Decency or Safety scores between White and Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) prisoners. We also use the collated data from all of the MQPL and SQL surveys to detect general trends and can analyse survey findings from across the prison estate and over time, to highlight common issues that give cause for concern, to identify good practice and to inform strategy and policy for commissioning and for business development.