Prisoners' experiences of drug treatment and punishment in four Nordic countries

Abstract

Aims This article describes and analyses prisoners' experiences of drug treatment in prison in four Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The article examines how prisoners experience drug treatment, control and sanctions as related to three main topics, namely motivation; the content of the measure and relations to staff; and control and sanctions. Methods & DATA – The article is based on data from twelve prisons, three in each of the four countries; 91 interviews with prisoners; and around six months of observation. The two main kinds of drug treatment measures are drug treatment units and day programmes. Results – Prisoners described several motives to participate in drug treatment measures: to leave drugs and crime; to renew relations with family and friends; to solve health problems; and to improve their prison conditions. Prisoners found that drug treatment measures offered possibilities to acquire new ways of being. Staff behaviour seemed to be more important to prisoners than the methods used, and some prisoners seemed more positive to staff involved with the drug treatment than to other staff. A surprising finding was the prisoners' limited critique of controls and sanctions. We see this as embedded in the situation of being a prisoner, and also in relation to contexts outside prison. Conclusion In discussing their experiences in the treatment units, prisoners are not so concerned about the rehabilitative features or the controls and sanctions. They evaluate their present situation in light of a future, which is their real concern. This is in line with a main task for staff, which is to prepare prisoners for release.

Kontrol af virkeligheden

“…Generelt kan man sige, at rusmidler giver erfaringsmaessig, social og følelsesmaessig mening for indsatte i en faengselskontekst. Af samme grund er det et stort spring for mange indsatte at ansøge om at komme i behandling, og studier viser da også, at indsattes motiver for at gå i misbrugsbehandling ofte findes uden for deres aktuelle brug af rusmidler (Giertsen et al, 2015, Kolind, 2012. Mange indsatte ansøger eksempelvis om behandling for at få bedre og blødere afsoningsvilkår.…”

“I Lost Me Visits”

“…Penalizing visitors and prisoners on the basis of drug violations in prison is a common response internationally and within Australia, perceived as serving the legitimate goal of deterring drug use within prisons (Duke, 2003;Giertsen, Nylander, Frank, & Kolind, 2015;Rodas, Bode, & Dolan, 2012). Restricting physical contact between prisoners and visitors in order to prevent and respond to the trafficking of drugs into prisons is also common (Boudin, Stutz, & Littman, 2013;Cope, 2003;United Kingdom [U.K.] Ministry of Justice, 2011).…”

Space and ethnic identification in a Danish prison

“…In many European countries (including Denmark which is the focus of this paper), special wings closed off from the rest of the prison have been established for prisoners in drug treatment programs (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), 2012; Kolind et al., 2013; Mjåland, 2016). Although there are challenges associated with carrying out drug treatment in prisons (McIntosh and Saville, 2006), research has shown that the staff–prisoner relation in these specialized wings tends to be less authoritarian than in normal prison wings (Kolind et al., 2015; Nylander et al., 2011), and prisoners report that prison life on these wings is less harsh and stressful (Giertsen et al., 2015). On the other hand, the staff in these wings report new dilemmas related to the entry of new categories of treatment staff and the introduction of new treatment-related tasks (Nylander et al., 2011).…”