Heroin addiction in British prisons: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Abstract

Personal experiences of heroin addiction in prison have been often overlooked in research. This study aims to examine the lived experience of former prisoners who experienced heroin addiction during incarceration, with a specific focus on the social and psychological components of the phenomenon. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with four participants who had been diagnosed with opioid dependence. Transcripts of the interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Four superordinate themes emerged from the analysis. These were: heroin as emotion regulator, relationship with heroin, feelings of isolation and fear, and conceptualisation of heroin on behaviour change. Superordinate themes with the corresponding subthemes are presented. This study brings attention to individuals' relationship with heroin and impact of heroin use on interpersonal relationships. Further studies and practical application of scientific knowledge are required to effectively support prisoners with heroin addiction and help them achieve recovery.

Effectiveness of prison-based opioid substitution treatment: a systematic review

“…Heroin use carries multiple health, legal and social implications such as increased risk of blood borne viruses infections, injecting related complications, poor physical and mental health, criminal activity and impaired social functioning. [5][6][7][8] Heroin use in prison setting carries additional challenges, with numerous studies showing that individuals who frequently use heroin during incarceration report engaging in riskier practices of heroin use in prison than in the community, 5 with one of the factors contributing towards that being limited availability of harm reduction services in prisons. [9][10][11][12] Heroin use in prison significantly increases the risks of HIV, Hepatitis C (HCV) and Hepatitis B (HBV) infection, [13][14][15][16] overdose death upon release, [17][18][19] criminal activity, 20,21 and re-incarceration.…”

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“…4 Numerous researchers have proposed understanding of drug use as a coping mechanism which people resort to because they have failed to develop adaptive responses to stress. [23][24][25][26] In accordance with self-medication hypothesis, Khantzian 27 argued that a person who is more sensitive to emotional distress is at greater risk of development of dependent drug use. Dube et al, 28 have also found strong positive associations between adverse attachment experiences in childhood and later use of illicit substances.…”

“…Due to their neuro-biological relation to attachment, opioids-consumption results in affective states, which have similar characteristics to the safe haven function. 4,23 Numerous animal studies have investigated the role of the endogenous opioid system in the neuro-biological foundations of attachment. Martel et al 30 have shown that blocking opioid receptors with antagonists increased the need for care in both young and adult rhesus monkey.…”