In January 2025, I was delighted to become President of the International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology (IACFP), a term which lasts two years. I am based in Dublin, Ireland and I have worked for the Irish Prison Service (IPS) for over 12 years as a Clinical Psychologist, National Psychology Service Manager, and more recently as Director of Care and Rehabilitation.
Ireland has a population of 5.14 million and just over 5,000 people in custody; an average of 92 people per 100,000 population. The Irish prison estate is made up of 13 prisons; 11 closed prisons and two open centres. Speaking to my international counterparts, it seems I could be working anywhere in the world in that we are facing many of the same complex challenges, just in different jurisdictions and with vastly different prison population sizes.
In Ireland, we are currently facing significant prison overcrowding. The system is operating at 112% capacity, with some locations operating at 157%. There are ever-increasing numbers of people with severe and enduring mental health challenges and very limited community hospital bed availability. Addiction and dual-diagnosis needs, an aging population with the need for nursing home and palliative care options, chronic illness, infectious diseases, personality disorder, complex trauma, neurodiversity, intellectual difficulties and brain injury are common clinical features. Access to contraband in prisons and violence are a constant challenge. Rising sentence lengths, increased remand populations, and an increased female prison population are all contemporary features of the Irish prison population. These national experiences replicate international data provided by World Prison Brief (WPB). Separately, but equally common amongst jurisdictions, are challenges associated with prison staff recruitment, staff wellbeing, training and retention, including operational, clinical and other professional grades. There are of course areas of positive improvement. For example, internationally, there appears to be a more concerted willingness to view drug use and addiction through a health rather than criminal justice lens. Furthermore, the needs of foreign nationals in prison is gaining more traction; a recent Confederation of European Probation workshop is testament to the dedicated efforts being made to inform policy and practice in prisons and Probation Services.
In Ireland, prison healthcare and psychology services come under the jurisdiction of the IPS and Department of Justice rather than the Department of Health. Whilst debates remain internationally about the most effective governance structure, here in Ireland we believe that whilst it may bring challenges, services remaining within Justice offer a high level of bespoke and experienced care for those in custody.
Throughout my career, when faced with the burden of ever-complex situations in prisons and community corrections, I have often felt isolated and alone in tackling them. There isn’t another prison service in Ireland, so I cannot reach out to a national counterpart. There are times when reaching out to colleagues within the Department of Health and Ireland’s Health Service has been helpful. However, forensic-clinical psychological experience is often unavailable outside the IPS itself. It was only when I joined the Board of IACFP, and its’ Mental Health Leadership Network, that I began to feel as though I had people to turn to in times of crisis and challenge. I cannot explain the relief I have found in sending an email query to colleagues all over the world who come back with a wealth of experience, ideas, and policies associated with the issue at hand.
IACFP is dedicated to advancing the voice of psychology in correctional settings. Through supporting Psychologists in their various roles, IACFP aims to impact correctional agencies systemically, from direct rehabilitative engagement to enhancing positive correctional culture. IACFP’s journal - Criminal Justice and Behaviour - is a top ranked journal that helps us ensure our work is both evidence-based and practitioner-informed.
In January, I chaired my first meeting of the Board of Directors, during which we welcomed three new Board members including Abigail Tucker (US), Shelley Brown (Canada) and Mariana Martin (Namibia). They join Board members from the US (Jeff Metzner, Richard Althouse, Diane Williams, Joel Dvoskin, Melvin Hinton, Matt Epperson), Canada (Frank Porporino), Singapore (Gabriel Ong), New Zealand (Jessica Borg), Argentina (Silvia Martinez) and Ireland (Emma Regan), with Cherie Townsend as our Executive Director.
During this meeting we focused on the development of our new IACFP strategy. Key to this strategy will be:
- A strong focus on Continual Professional Development (CPD) for our members.
- Enhancing our international Mental Health Leadership Network.
- Fulfilling the potential of our IACFP Bulletin with an emphasis on engaging practitioner and student writers.
- A focus on IACFP modernisation, governance and organisational resilience.
- Continuing to find ways to ‘Help the Helpers’.
"I cannot explain the relief I have found in sending an email query to colleagues all over the world who come back with a wealth of experience, ideas, and even policies associated with the issue at hand."
Launching a strategy in relation to supporting Psychologists in prisons and community corrections across the globe is no easy task. The WPB estimates the world prison population is approximately 11.5 million people, an increase of 24% since 2000. This data relates to approximately 224 jurisdictions and there is an acknowledgement that accessing prison population data in some countries is more challenging. Each of these jurisdictions will have their own unique approach to criminal justice. Cultures, socio-political environments and legislation vary widely. There will be differences in attitudes to people in contact with the criminal justice system, within and across jurisdictions. Rehabilitative and security priorities will vary. Language used to describe someone in custody varies; prisoner, inmate, person in custody, justice-involved individual (and that is just in English speaking jurisdictions). The Global Community Corrections Initiative do not have complete data on the size of the global community correction population, but their researchers provide a preliminary estimate of 12.5 million. When this estimate is combined with the 2024 World Prison Population List, the total global corrections population is estimated to be 24 million. To my knowledge, there is no international data available in relation to the number of Psychologists working across institutional and community corrections. Qualifications, processes, practices and approaches to rehabilitation will vary across jurisdictions. In Ireland, for example, the authorised ratio of qualified Psychologist to person in custody is currently 1:146. With current vacancies, there is a ratio of 1:178. In my experience, this ratio varies widely between jurisdictions.
Despite all the variation, it seems clear to me that the challenges we face are common to many of us. As a result, I strongly believe that IACFP has a huge amount to offer Psychologists in corrections internationally. I am looking forward to the launch of IACFP’s Strategy (2025 – 2031) shortly, and its implementation over the coming years.
Working therapeutically in correctional settings (institutional and community) is very rewarding and at the same time, can be demanding, both personally and professionally. My mission as the new President of IACFP will be to ensure IACFP is a place correctional Psychologists can turn to for support, no matter where they are in the world. Please join us on LinkedIn and via our website for further updates over the coming months and years. We welcome your feedback, and in particular, areas of CPD you would like to see prioritised over the coming two years. Please contact Cherie Townsend at executivedirectoriacfp@gmail.com or via LinkedIn.
"We welcome your feedback, and in particular, areas of CPD you would like to see prioritised over the coming two years. Please contact Cherie Townsend at Please contact Cherie Townsend at executivedirectoriacfp@gmail.com or via LinkedIn.
Finally, I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight two upcoming areas of relevance to IACFP. First is the 4th International Correctional Research Symposium (CRS) which is a collaboration between International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) and EuroPris, and sponsored by the Northern Irish Prison Service. At IACFP we are thrilled to provide sponsorship to this worthwhile conference. For those of you who have attended previous CSR conferences, you will know what an interesting group of people attend; these connections serve to revitalise us in such a challenging area of work. This year’s conference is being held in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 13th to 16th May 2025. Whilst abstract closure was 14th February, attendance more generally is welcome. The focus of CRS this year is on the theme ‘From Individual to Ecosystem: Sharing Research that Matters for Corrections’. It will examine aspects of the theme in four tracks:
- Responding to Individual factors in pathways to crime, age, gender, ethnicity and cultural backgrounds, religion, experiences of trauma, neurodiversity, neurobiology, motivation and treatment resistance and other individual factors that can underpin rehabilitative responses.
- Responding to Interpersonal factors, with a specific interest in family engagement, relationships with third-party or charitable organizations, and peer support both within and outside the prison.
- Responding to Community obstacles and barriers in efforts to improve the transition from prison to community.
- Adjusting Organisational and Policy responses, with a specific focus on the impact of prison environment and culture, including staff morale and well-being, as well as responding to/coping with the influence and pressures of political priorities.
Second is IACFP’s little known, but significant annual financial support of student research. More information on the award, the timeline for submitting applications and decision-making on the awards will be available in April 2025. Please support your students and aspiring Psychologists to apply.
Dr Emma Regan
IACFP President
