ArticleJournal of public health (Oxford, England)2026
How conditions within immigration removal centres in the United Kingdom affect the mental wellbeing of detainees: a scoping review.
Article in Journal of public health (Oxford, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundImmigration Removal Centres (IRCs) are used to detain people for immigration control by the UK government. This scoping review aims to examine the experiences of detainees within UK IRCs, specifically how conditions within them, including the regime, affect their mental wellbeing.
methodsThe Joanna Briggs Institute guideline for scoping reviews was followed. Six bibliographic databases and additional grey literature sources were searched for quantitative and qualitative evidence. Descriptive analyses and quality assessments were conducted.
resultsFifteen research studies and nine pieces of grey literature were included, comprising a total of 1353 participants and 11 IRCs. The majority of data was qualitative in methodology and published after 2015. Main findings from articles were charted according to Maslow's (1943) Hierarchy of Needs, revealing persistent failings across all dimensions (physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization). The regime within the IRCs as well as the psychosocial environment led to emotional distress and feelings of disempowerment, dehumanization, and criminality.
conclusionsThis review highlights the negative impact of IRCs within the UK on the mental wellbeing of detainees and the need for urgent policy reform. Changes addressing temporal uncertainty of detention and use of community-based settings are proposed for UK governmental review.
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