Borobudur Law and Society Journal

Prison overcrowding threatens the mental health of inmates, and the Mental Health Law of 2014 required correctional institutions to promote mental health and provide psychosocial support. That law was repealed by the Health Law of 2023. This study asks how mental-health services for prisoners were implemented at Magelang Class IIA Prison under the 2014 Law, which obstacles stand in the way, and what the change of law means for them. It is normative-empirical research with a sociological approach, based on statutes, observation, interviews with prison officials and health staff, and literature, analysed qualitatively with the four implementation factors of Edwards III. The prison offers recreation, exercise, skills activities and monthly outpatient treatment with medicine from the city mental hospital, but it has two doctors, one nurse and two clinic assistants, no mental-health specialist, no special budget (about IDR 20,000 per inmate per month for all health care) and 507 inmates in a prison built for 221, which is 129 per cent above capacity. Implementation is therefore not optimal in resources and bureaucratic structure, although staff disposition is positive. The Health Law keeps the duty but does not remove these obstacles. The article recommends a staffing norm, a budget line, a transfer protocol and reduced overcrowding.