Reducing the dangers of COVID-19 through shared governance in a Philippine jail

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic poses a grave threat to the welfare of detainees and personnel in correctional facilities worldwide. This is especially true in jails and prisons with acute problems of overcrowding, such as in the Philippines, where the congestion rate hovers around 463%. This article documents shared governance practices in Manila City Jail Male Dormitory, the Philippines' most populous jail. Despite limited space and resources, jail personnel and detainees cooperatively addressed the pandemic threat. Using interviews with jail personnel and detainees, and a review of social media postings and official internal reports, we document the varied manifestations of shared governance. Specifically, jail personnel and prisoner leaders cooperated by disseminating information, crafting policies, identifying makeshift quarantine areas, assigning prisoner medical staff, and instituting discipline. The shared governance approach entails addressing the Covid-19 crisis as community and family, where prisoners actively take part in identifying, reporting, and addressing problems. While other jails and prisons in the Philippines experienced Covid-19 infections and social tensions within their facilities due to restrictive protocols, the Manila City Jail Male Dorm experienced no infections or violent incidents. Implications to theory and practice of jail governance, especially in periods of public health emergency, are discussed.