Injecting Risk Behaviour Among Recently Released Prisoners in Edinburgh: The Impact of In-prison and Community Drug Treatment Services

• NCJ Number: 187987
• Journal: Legal and Criminological Psychology Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2001 Pages: 19-28
• Author(s): David Shewan; Margaret Reid; Sandy Macpherson; John B. Davies; Judy Greenwood
• Date Published: February 2001
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

A study conducted between 1993 and 1995 examined the drug injection behavior of prisoners after release in Edinburgh, Scotland, and assessed the impact of both in-prison and community drug services on injecting risk behavior after release.

Abstract

The two follow-up interviews conducted after release from prison involved 56 and 40 participants, respectively. Results revealed some indication of an initial flurry of injecting risk behavior among participants soon after release; a minority reported injecting after release from prison. However, over time, patterns of injecting were variable. The incidence of sharing injecting equipment was low. The post-release risk behavior among the participants was generally low, perhaps contrary to expectation. In addition, neither community-based nor in-prison drug treatment programs had a major effect on patterns of drug use. The analysis concluded that caution is needed in making generalizations based on these findings. Overall, findings indicated that contact with in-prison or community drug services did not predict lower-risk behavior and that more enduring local factors may be just as influential on levels of risk behavior. Tables and 24 references (Author abstract modified)