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‘We've come from the gutter, we're going back to the gutter': an exploratory study of healthcare conditions in Pollsmoor prison

In recent years, public discourse on South African prison healthcare has highlighted a significant gap in contemporary research. While existing literature have laid a foundational understanding, there remains a lack of empirical studies addressing the changing healthcare dynamics within these instit...

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Main Author: Busco, Victor
Other Authors: Moult, Kelley
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Cape Town 2025
Subjects:
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access_status_str Open Access
author Busco, Victor
author2 Moult, Kelley
author_browse Busco, Victor
Moult, Kelley
author_facet Moult, Kelley
Busco, Victor
author_sort Busco, Victor
collection Thesis
description In recent years, public discourse on South African prison healthcare has highlighted a significant gap in contemporary research. While existing literature have laid a foundational understanding, there remains a lack of empirical studies addressing the changing healthcare dynamics within these institutions. Prisons, often veiled from public scrutiny, present unique challenges in understanding the actual healthcare conditions without direct investigation. This study aims to fill this gap by focusing on healthcare at Pollsmoor Medium B, a unit of the well-known Pollsmoor Correctional Centre. It focuses on identifying the specific barriers inmates face in accessing healthcare services within this facility. Through extensive thematic analysis of qualitative data collected through interviews and document reviews, the research uncovers that the healthcare provisions at Pollsmoor Medium B are markedly substandard, failing to meet both national and international human rights norms. While it is unclear whether these conditions are uniformly prevalent across all prison units, the findings indicate systemic issues with management and healthcare service delivery. The study concludes with a strong recommendation for thorough reforms to ensure the health rights of inmates are protected and upheld.
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40819 ‘We've come from the gutter, we're going back to the gutter': an exploratory study of healthcare conditions in Pollsmoor prison Busco, Victor Moult, Kelley Public Law In recent years, public discourse on South African prison healthcare has highlighted a significant gap in contemporary research. While existing literature have laid a foundational understanding, there remains a lack of empirical studies addressing the changing healthcare dynamics within these institutions. Prisons, often veiled from public scrutiny, present unique challenges in understanding the actual healthcare conditions without direct investigation. This study aims to fill this gap by focusing on healthcare at Pollsmoor Medium B, a unit of the well-known Pollsmoor Correctional Centre. It focuses on identifying the specific barriers inmates face in accessing healthcare services within this facility. Through extensive thematic analysis of qualitative data collected through interviews and document reviews, the research uncovers that the healthcare provisions at Pollsmoor Medium B are markedly substandard, failing to meet both national and international human rights norms. While it is unclear whether these conditions are uniformly prevalent across all prison units, the findings indicate systemic issues with management and healthcare service delivery. The study concludes with a strong recommendation for thorough reforms to ensure the health rights of inmates are protected and upheld. 2025-01-22T13:55:46Z 2025-01-22T13:55:46Z 2024 2025-01-22T13:51:37Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40819 eng application/pdf University of Cape Town Department of Public Law Faculty of Law
spellingShingle Public Law
Busco, Victor
‘We've come from the gutter, we're going back to the gutter': an exploratory study of healthcare conditions in Pollsmoor prison
thesis_degree_str Master's
title ‘We've come from the gutter, we're going back to the gutter': an exploratory study of healthcare conditions in Pollsmoor prison
title_full ‘We've come from the gutter, we're going back to the gutter': an exploratory study of healthcare conditions in Pollsmoor prison
title_fullStr ‘We've come from the gutter, we're going back to the gutter': an exploratory study of healthcare conditions in Pollsmoor prison
title_full_unstemmed ‘We've come from the gutter, we're going back to the gutter': an exploratory study of healthcare conditions in Pollsmoor prison
title_short ‘We've come from the gutter, we're going back to the gutter': an exploratory study of healthcare conditions in Pollsmoor prison
title_sort we ve come from the gutter we re going back to the gutter an exploratory study of healthcare conditions in pollsmoor prison
topic Public Law
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40819
work_keys_str_mv AT buscovictor wevecomefromthegutterweregoingbacktothegutteranexploratorystudyofhealthcareconditionsinpollsmoorprison