Facing drug problems and advancing sentence plan. Prisoners’ perspectives on drug treatment programmes in Finland

Framing and reframing drug ‘problems’ in prison spaces and populations

“…That is, by skillfully performing prescribed ways of speaking, the women could, for instance, obtain shelter, food or even regain/maintain custody of their children (Carr 2011, p.222). In sum, it appears that prisoners' motives for entering prison drug treatment programmes are related both to prisoners' actual drug problems and to factors related to serving prison sentences (see Williams, et al, 2008;Kaskela and Tourunen, 2018). One can argue that starting in drug treatment programmes for some prisoners is a 'survival strategy' alleviating the pains of imprisonment (Kolind et al 2013); prisoners 'play the game' (Schwaebe, 2003) or 'tell them [treatment staff] what they want to hear' (Patenaude, 2005).…”

How to Support Prison Workers’ Perceived Readiness to Identify and Respond to Possible Gambling Problems: a Pilot Study from Two Finnish Prisons

“…In prison settings, problematic gambling often remains undetected and undiagnosed, and it is less automatically assessed than substance abuse and mental health problems (Turner et al 2017;Brooks and Blaszczynski 2011;Williams et al 2005). Most prison services concentrate on specific problems such as substance use, mental health problems, housing, and other social issues and on supporting prisoners' reintegration into society among others through counseling, assessment referral advice, and through care (CARAT) or prison-based drug treatment (PDT) programs (Offender Health Research Network 2010; Kaskela and Tourunen 2018). Much less focus is given to the screening and treatment of possible problem gamblers.…”