title: Prevention of violence in prison - The role of health care professionals.
abstract: The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies violence prevention as a public health priority. In custodial settings, where violence is problematic, administrators and custodial officials are usually tasked with the duty of addressing this complicated issue-leaving health care professionals largely out of a discussion and problem-solving process that should ideally be multidisciplinary in approach. Health care professionals who care for prisoners are in a unique position to help identify and prevent violence, given their knowledge about health and violence, and because of the impartial position they must sustain in the prison environment in upholding professional ethics. Thus, health care professionals working in prisons should be charged with leading violence prevention efforts in custodial settings. In addition to screening for violence and detecting violent events upon prison admission, health care professionals in prison must work towards uniform in-house procedures for longitudinal and systemized medical recording/documentation of violence. These efforts will benefit the future planning, implementation, and evaluation of focused strategies for violence prevention in prisoner populations.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: joerg.pont@meduniwien.ac.at.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pont
authors.affiliation: University of Applied Sciences, Faculty Health and Social Work, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Electronic address: hstoever@fb4.fh-frankfurt.de.
authors.forename: Heino
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stöver
authors.affiliation: Division of Medicine and Psychiatry, Department of Community Medicine, Primary Care and Emergency Medicine, University Hospitals of Geneva and Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Laurent.Getaz@hcuge.ch.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gétaz
authors.affiliation: Division of Medicine and Psychiatry, Department of Community Medicine, Primary Care and Emergency Medicine, University Hospitals of Geneva and Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Alejandra.Casillas@hcuge.ch.
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casillas
authors.affiliation: Division of Medicine and Psychiatry, Department of Community Medicine, Primary Care and Emergency Medicine, University Hospitals of Geneva and Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Hans.Wolff@hcuge.ch.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wolff
mesh_terms: D004282:Documentation; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008487:Medical History Taking; D011329:Prisoners; D011330:Prisons; D024382:Professional Role; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control*
keywords: Harm reduction; Health care professional duty; Medical ethics; Prevention; Prison violence