NCJ Number
108556
Date Published
1987
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This report describes the drug-free program at the Hinseberg Prison for Women in Sweden and presents findings of a followup study of the 80 women who entered and left the program during 1979-1981.
Abstract
The program is built around work or study, physical training, obligatory involvement in leisure activities, and planning for social life outside prison. Weekly group discussions focus on present problems and the importance of maintaining a drug-free life after release. For the entire sample of 80 women, only 5 women had urine samples that tested positive for drugs during their participation in the program, indicating the program was meeting its goal of providing a drug-free environment. Half of the sample was sentenced to probation or imprisonment for subsequent violations during the study period, with the recidivism rate being slightly lower for those who completed the programs than for those who did not. Subsequent documented alcohol or drug abuse was found for 50 percent of completer and for 76 percent of noncompleters. Nearly 90 percent of those who received subsequent sentences showed documented substance misuse during the followup period. Positive postrelease occupational assessments were received by 59 percent of program completers as compared with 32 percent of noncompleters, and negative assessment was significantly related to subsequent recidivism. 7 tables and 1 note.