The use of detention for psychiatric treatment is widespread and sometimes necessary. International human rights law requires a legal framework to safeguard the rights to liberty and personal integrity by preventing arbitrary detention. However, research suggests that extra-legal factors may influence decisions to detain. This article presents observational and interview data to describe how de...

BACKGROUND Injection drug use (IDU) is one of the major modes of HIV transmission in China. Drug use is illegal in China, all identified drug users are registered by Public Security Bureau, and most were sent to detention; most detainees engaged in high risk behaviours. In order to well understand the HIV/AIDS knowledge among detainees, a survey was conducted in different detention settings in ...

Asylum seekers arriving in the United States are often imprisoned for months or years while their asylum claims are processed. Recently, Physicians for Human Rights and the Bellevue/New York University Program for Survivors of Torture released the findings of the first systematic study examining the health of detained asylum seekers. The study found that the mental health of asylum seekers inte...

Both the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 authorise the treatment and detention of the mentally ill. Their interface is often clear cut. After all, the 1983 Act formally sanctions and safeguards compulsion where it is necessary to protect patients or others. Individuals can only be detained for psychiatric, not physical, health purposes. And such detention can only take p...

BACKGROUND According to official accounts, in 2012 more than 235,000 people were detained in over 1,000 compulsory drug detention centers in East and Southeast Asia. METHODS Between July 2007 and May 2013, in-depth interviews were conducted with 195 individuals recently released from drug detention centers in China, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. RESULTS Individuals reported being held for up...

OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to assess the mental and physical health of children held within a British immigration detention center. METHOD A total of 24 detained children (aged 3 months to 17 years) were assessed with their parents or carer after being referred by a registered legal charity. Thirteen were seen by a pediatrician alone, 4 by a psychologist alone, and 7 by both profession...

BACKGROUND Most literature on psychological consequences of torture is related to prolonged detention. Psychological consequences of intensive physical and psychological torture in brief detention have not been investigated. The aim of this study is to analyse the psychological impact of torture in short-term incommunicado detention. METHOD A sample of 45 Basque people who had allegedly been ...

BACKGROUND Immigration detention has been shown to negatively affect the health and well-being of detainees. The aim of the study was to describe and compare policies and practices that could affect the health and well-being of immigrant detainees in the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) to those in Sweden. DESIGN This was a case study. Data were collected in two ph...

Public health professionals have a responsibility to protect and promote the right to health amongst populations, especially vulnerable and disenfranchised groups, such as people seeking asylum and whose health care is frequently compromised. As at 31 March 2016, there was a total of 3707 people (including 384 children) in immigration detention facilities or community detention in Australia, wi...