The challenges associated with drug treatment in prison

Abstract

The high proportion of prisoners who experience problem drug use suggests that prisons should, in principle, provide an ideal opportunity for treatment. However, while the potential for intervention in prisons may be clear, there are a number of challenges involved in delivering drug treatment in that setting. This article, which is based on observation and interviews with staff and prisoners in a large Scottish prison, seeks to enhance our understanding of these challenges and to explore how they might be addressed. The research found that a number of aspects of prison life had significant implications for treatment. These included the following: the prison regime and culture; the attitudes of staff towards drug use and drug users; and the relationship between officers and prisoners. Each of these is examined in detail. The article concludes that there is a need to expand those treatments that contain the flexibility and range of skills required to address the complexity of prisoners’ needs. However, it also recognizes that the resource intensive nature of these interventions is likely to require some form of prioritization. The article suggests that targeting these services on the basis of an assessment of prisoners’ readiness to give up drugs might be the most appropriate way of achieving this. Greater use of drug treatment and testing orders could also provide a way of offering offenders the sort of treatment they require while, at the same time, relieving the burden on prison treatment systems. Interventions to increase prisoners’ motivation to give up drugs and to encourage more positive attitudes towards drug users on the part of mainstream prison officers are also recommended.