What is Fuelling Rising Rates of Violence in Prisons? Probably not Drones.

The government’s latest Safety in Custody Statistics show a startling increase in violence to self and others in prisons. Mortalities have risen by nearly a third to 401 in the 12 months to the end of June 2025, including 86 prisoners in ‘self-inflicted’ circumstances. The rate of self-harm has risen by 5% in men’s prisons and by 6% in women’s prisons in the 12 months from March 2024.

The causes of these rises have been making headline news in England and Wales over the last year as national race riots saw prisons hit capacity with reports claiming less than a hundred remaining places in August and September 2024. With shocking stories emerging due to overcrowding, drugs, gang activity and inexperienced staff, the government has sought to reassure the public their investment in AI technology will intercept drug deliveries, formulate risk assessments on prisoners and decode their secret communications.

There are grounds for optimism that AI will support record keeping, information access and interpretation of cases for civil servants and judges that would bring welcome relief to the court backlogs impacting the justice system. However, in addressing increasing rates of violence within prisons, we would surely benefit from heeding the recommendations from many salient reports published this year by statutory and VCSE organisations.

In particular, HM Inspectorate of Prisons and Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT) have shared research showing that those serving sentences and prison and staff working within the prison system state clearly that the mental health of men and women in prison is their primary challenge in rehabilitation. Further to this, poor prison conditions are exacerbating their ability to manage mental health conditions.

Whilst there are distinctions in needs and aspirations, both men and women in prison cite the importance of having agency, the meeting of their basic needs, as well as healthy relationships and purposeful activity as vital. A deficit in these areas, when combined with their individual stories and circumstances, can have an insurmountable impact on their mental health, which is often expressed through violence.

Purpose, connection and dignity are gained according to those in prison, through calls and visits with their personal network, as well as a good rapport with prison staff. Work, engaging activities and an environment with appropriate basic facilities are highlighted as impactful on mental and physical wellbeing. Women who participated the HM inspectorate of prisons research for their February 2025 report ‘A Time to Care’, described resorting to self-harm when they had no other recourse to attaining receiving support and their mental health deteriorated.

It is disappointing then that these manageable and fair service provisions which are prescribed for prisons are all too often impossible for staff to facilitate, as they are overstretched and undertrained. Many describe being ill equipped for, and traumatised by, the needs and lived experience of prisoners and explain that they become desensitised to the individuals and their circumstances under the stress of their roles. How can rehabilitation of those on justice pathways occur under these conditions?

Suitably trained and qualified professionals equipped with the skills to support people with lived experience to manage and cope, are alarmingly few within the prisons system. PACT and Centre for Mental Health reported in their July 2025 publication on the mental health crisis in prisons;

‘Mental health staffing varies by region, but even regions with the highest levels of provision had only nine nursing staff per 1,000 people in custody; two psychiatrists;…eight psychologists;… (and) five social workers…’

As people in prisons experience mental health crises, staff become carers with both parties waiting for a mental health professional to become available. Looking beyond filling staffing posts, building more prisons and automating records, rehabilitation still needs to be the key focus so that we are not containing risk but minimising it for everyone’s benefit.

Overcoming barriers to emotional regulation, relationship development, and life skills is essential for people in prison because challenges in these areas are often identified as causal factors that lead people into justice pathways. At SIG, Safe Ground design and deliver arts-based therapeutic group work in custodial settings that bridges the gap between the personal and interpersonal challenges, as well as the demand and responsibilities of cooperating with wider structures and systems that men in prison need to manage.

Equipping them with new perspectives through opportunities to explore and debate different ways of understanding and approaching situations empowers participants. With programmes such as Safe Ground’s ‘Father’s Inside’ delivering a 40% reduction in reoffending between programme participants and their counterparts who did not participate (Justice Data Lab, 2016), the value of supporting people in prison settings to address what lies within their control through restoring a sense of responsible autonomy, is well evidenced.

Whilst life skills programmes have a beneficial impact, they need to be combined with appropriate mental health support from qualified professionals and relational support from trained prison staff. Meaningful activities, decent facilities and educational courses are also vital. This is what people in prisons state as necessary, and the data evidences positive outcomes for mental health.

We now implore the government to invest in this whole system approach to the entirety of the justice pathway to ensure that good mental health is acknowledged and supported as foundational to rehabilitation.

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