MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Tob Control. 2018 Nov;27(6):622-630. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-053868. Epub 2018 Feb 19.
Prisoner smoking rates remain high, resulting in secondhand smoke exposures for prison staff and non-smoker prisoners. Several jurisdictions have introduced prison smoking bans with little evidence of resulting disorder. Successful implementation of such bans requires staff support. As news media representations of health and other issues shape public views and as prison smoking bans are being introduced in the UK, we conducted content analysis of UK news media to explore representations of smoking in prisons and smoke-free prisons.
We searched 64 national and local newspapers and 5 broadcast media published over 17 months during 2015-2016, and conducted thematic analysis of relevant coverage in 106 articles/broadcasts.
Coverage was relatively infrequent and lacked in-depth engagement with the issues. It tended to reinforce a negative view of prisoners, avoid explicit concern for prisoner or prison staff health and largely ignore the health gains of smoke-free policies. Most coverage failed to discuss appropriate responses or support for cessation in the prison context, or factors associated with high prisoner smoking rates. Half the articles/broadcasts included coverage suggesting smoke-free prisons might lead to unrest or instability.
Negative news media representations of prisoners and prison smoking bans may impact key stakeholders' views (eg, prison staff, policy-makers) on the introduction of smoke-free prison policies. Policy-makers' communications when engaging in discussion around smoke-free prison policies should draw on the generally smooth transitions to smoke-free prisons to date, and on evidence on health benefits of smoke-free environments and smoking cessation.
囚犯的吸烟率仍然很高，导致监狱工作人员和不吸烟者囚犯暴露于二手烟中。一些司法管辖区已经实施了监狱禁烟令，但几乎没有证据表明这会导致混乱。成功实施此类禁令需要工作人员的支持。由于新闻媒体对健康和其他问题的报道塑造了公众的观点，并且英国正在引入监狱禁烟令，我们对英国新闻媒体进行了内容分析，以探讨监狱和无烟监狱中吸烟的描述。
我们搜索了 2015 年至 2016 年期间 17 个月内发布的 64 份国家和地方报纸以及 5 个广播媒体，并对 106 篇文章/广播中的相关报道进行了主题分析。
报道相对较少，也没有深入探讨这些问题。它往往强化了对囚犯的负面看法，避免明确关注囚犯或监狱工作人员的健康，并且在很大程度上忽略了无烟政策带来的健康收益。大多数报道都没有讨论在监狱环境中适当的戒烟措施或支持，也没有讨论与高囚犯吸烟率相关的因素。一半的文章/广播中包括的报道表明，无烟监狱可能会导致动荡或不稳定。
对囚犯和监狱禁烟令的负面新闻媒体报道可能会影响引入无烟监狱政策的关键利益相关者（例如监狱工作人员、政策制定者）的观点。政策制定者在围绕无烟监狱政策进行讨论时的沟通，应该借鉴迄今为止向无烟监狱平稳过渡的经验，以及关于无烟环境和戒烟对健康的益处的证据。
