The number of prisoners kept in Intervention and Support Units is increasing after a slump during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Former prisoners described verbal abuse and poor treatment within the units (ISUs), which are often used to house mentally ill prisoners.
Emma, who asked to keep her surname private, was remanded in custody at the Christchurch Women's Prison after a suicide attempt in 2022.
"The very first time I was there, I got put straight into the ISU because the judge had decided there was no safe place for me," she said.
"There was no room in the hospital so they put me in prison, basically locked in a cell for 23 hours a day."
Once per day, Emma would be let out of her cell for a shower.
"They basically shut you in a room and you had your shower, then you had to wait for them to let you out again," she said.
"If they're busy doing something else... I was in there for like two hours once because they just forgot or were too busy."
Prisoners in ISUs are isolated for up to 23 hours a day for an average of six to seven days at a time. The United Nations' definition for solitary confinement is 22 hours or more without meaningful human contact.
Data from the Department of Corrections shows the use of ISUs has returned to pre-pandemic levels after a decline in 2020 and 2021.
During the 2022 to 2023 financial year, 3296 prisoners spent time in an ISU, compared to 2758 prisoners the year before.
University of Waikato psychology professor Devon Polaschek said ISUs were often necessary if a prisoner was suicidal.
"[Prisoners] would be more likely to still be alive at the end of their seven days than if they were left where they were," she said.
"However, I don't think there's any question that those environments could be more therapeutic. I have seen some of these facilities and they're not fit for purpose."
In August 2023, the Department of Corrections received funding for the refurbishment of ISUs in six prisons but has not provided a timeframe for when the work will begin.
Mike, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, said his fellow prisoners at Whanganui Prison were terrified of being sent to an ISU.
"If they deem you at risk, they'll come in with five guards and literally wrestle you to the ground and restrain you. I've seen it happen. Then you're off to the ISU," he said.
"In there, it's even worse for these people, they just sit on their bed rocking. I've never been in there but I spoke to a guard who said 'you don't want to be in there'."
Emma claimed Corrections officers had verbally abused her during a psychotic episode.
"I had psychosis, and I thought my dead dog was in the prison cell with me," she said.
"I didn't eat, I was saving my food and put a bowl of water down for my dog. [Officers] came in and started yelling at me that I was a disgusting pig."
Emma said she often heard the guards hurling abuse at other prisoners down the hall.
Corrections says it won't tolerate behaviour not in line with code of conduct
Department of Corrections mental health services director Emma Gardner said that was not the sort of behaviour she expected from prison staff.
"We really won't tolerate, and don't tolerate, behaviour that isn't in line with our code of conduct," she said.
"When new Corrections officers are coming through their training, they do integrity training, and that continues as they move out into their respective roles within the prison network."
Prison staff were also required to sit a mental health workshop, she said.
Former prisoner Emma said her time in the ISU did not help her mental state, and actually caused her to experience suicidal thoughts more frequently.
"It was one of the worst places to be, being left alone with my thoughts, when that's what led to me being arrested in the first place," she said.
"It just made me not want to be alive, really, and when I told the staff about that, they just got shitty and thought I was acting out."
Mike believed being put in an ISU made prisoners more likely to reoffend.
"When a guy needs a teddy bear and a blanket, it's totally the wrong place for them. They need their own unit that can meet their needs in a way that doesn't cause more trauma for them," he said.
"One guy at Whanganui Prison, he got released and within 48 hours he was back in prison."
Emma said the so-called Intervention and Support Unit did not have much "support" to offer at all.
"The psychiatrist... I don't know if they didn't want to see me or if the referral even went through, but I never saw the psychiatrist or a GP," she said.
"The help technically exists, but no one that I know has actually accessed it."
Professor Polaschek said there were not enough psychiatrists to support the hundreds of prisoners with severe mental illnesses.
"There's always this challenge for correctional services to access services provided from outside," she said.
"Corrections doesn't employ psychiatrists, they have to come from the mental health system and we're incredibly short of them. [Corrections is] competing with everyone else for access to forensic psychiatrists."
Gardner said the same.
"We, like everyone else nationally and internationally, suffer from a shortage of mental health expertise, and we're doing everything we can to recruit into the vacancies we have."
She said prison staff were doing the best they could with what they had.
RNZ
