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NEED FOR DRUG AND ALCOHOL COUNSELING IN PRISONS
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Table of Contents
Introduction ...............................................................................................................................3
Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................................... 3
Significance of Study ............................................................................................................................ 4
Policy Implementation for Counselling Services in Prisons ........................................................7
Departmental Impact .................................................................................................................9
Impact to external stakeholders ........................................................................................................ 10
Budgetary Implication and Impact ..................................................................................................... 11
Christian Worldview Approach to Proposal Implementation ...................................................12
References ................................................................................................................................14
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NEED FOR DRUG AND ALCOHOL COUNSELING IN PRISONS
Introduction
For a long time now, criminal justice policy has been subject tough approach to drugs and
alcohol offenders by increasing punitive measures but this has not been able to reduce criminal
re-offense and instead, it has forced most federal governments to develop intensive correctional
systems that have strained government budgets. The criminal justice system developed better
options for dealing with crime by placing greater efforts on rehabilitation of offenders as well as
proper mechanisms of dealing with occurrence and re-occurrence of such offense in a manner
that is understandable within the psychology and state of human conduct (Andrews and Bonta,
2010). However, this action was largely ignored by states in the pursuit for harsher punishment
as provided for in the federal laws that apply throughout the world.
Statement of the Problem
The practice of brewing alcohol and drug taking is still available in open prisons as well
as a few inmates in closed jails who carry on the practice of brewing illicit and inferior alcoholic
drinks and whisky. This is usually done with some level and varying degrees of success but in
some cases, the inmates are captured by the prison staff especially when the smell of the
fermenting brew grows stronger. In other words, cases of drug abuse and alcohol brewing and
taking have seen a dramatic rise and this has led to additional crimes while the inmate are
convicted in prison.
Moreover, research shows that the percentage of drug abusers in the prison systems all
over the world has grown immensely in recent years (Mohamad etal., 2018). This situation has
created challenges and problems to criminal law policy -makers, prison administrations, drug
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abuse management system and families of the drug abusers or dependents. Efforts for
rehabilitating the law offenders were enacted in countries like Britain since 1980 so as to curb
use of alcohols and drugs among prisoners but still, there was the alarming increase in drug
abuse thus mandating tougher sentencing laws against drug dealers and users in prisons due to
the belief that “nothing works” in rehabilitation (Mulgrew, 2018). Still, the prisons became full
of recurrent and serious drug-abusing offenders who had either backslidden or inducted into use
of alcohol and drugs by fellow inmates and this has seen a rise in prison overcrowding.
As a result, the global criminal justice system in conjunction with authorities and criminal
justice researchers have been looking for ways of reducing re-offenses and controlling
overcrowding as well as putting in more efforts in expanding prison-based drug treatment
programs. This has been supported by social science research due to the global outcry against
sharply rising crime, despite the call for severe sentences. It is against this background that this
research is fueled so as to examine the need for alcohol and drug counselling programs in prisons
so as to try and reduce the abuse of drugs by inmates as well as number of inmates who commit
further offense after they are released from prison.
Significance of Study
The issue of need for drug and alcohol counselling is significant and therefore there is
need for a very rational approach to how it should be implemented. It is true that drug and
alcohol abuse has a major impact on individuals, families, and communities and that its effects
are normally cumulative such that they contribute significantly to social, physical, mental, and
public health problems. Research has indicated that there is a complex relationship between the
problems and complications that arise from thee alcohol and abuse and provision of counselling
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and treatment outcomes in as much as it provides psycho-social treatment and support in helping
the prisoners to recover and adjust to normalcy.
There has been immense concern and active involvement by agencies which have shown
involvement in the issue of dealing with drugs and alcohol use among prisoners. The
International Society of Substance Use Professionals, ISSUP has been a global center of
information provision concerning prevention and treatment techniques, from which counsellors
seek to source their reference. Thus, its role and sustainability has greatly depended on
collaboration with other major international agencies working in the drugs field. Other
international agencies in particular are able to implement activities and ISSUP had been able to
design and implement activities in consultation with each other in such a way that promotes the
psycho-social wellbeing of such drugs and alcohol convicts. The United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC) works to sensitive the world on the threats and dangers of drug abuse as
well as strengthening international ties in taking actions against production and trafficking of
drugs and drug-related crimes. Its other significant role is to work towards improving crime
prevention so as to contribute positively to criminal justice reforms in a number of countries.
In2009 – 2016, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) adopted the political
declaration action plan towards the integrated strategies to counter the world drugs problem in
prisons (Hasselgard-Rowe,2020). It is during this era that the World Health Organization
(WHO) held a special session and recommended some reviews that the member states were to
undertake. It was established that cannabis was the most widely used drug among prison inmates
aged 15‐64 years, followed by cocaine and the illicitly brewed alcohol. This agency therefore
plays a very critical role in providing statistics and sensitizing the prison systems around the
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world, on the dangers and consequences of illicit drug and alcohol use. In the recent years, the
World Health Organization has put in place the support mechanisms in the prison systems such
as provide leadership on matters critical to drug and alcohol counselling, engaging in
partnerships where efforts and action are needed, promoting and monitoring the implementation
of counselling programs to prison inmates around the world, shaping research on alcohol and
drug abuse in prisons and its mitigation measures, providing technical support in developing
sustainable system on managing use and misuse of drugs and alcohol as well as monitoring and
assessing the post-health situation of rehabilitated drug addicts (Janetius & Govindarajan, 2017).
Other global agencies that are actively involved in alcohol and drugs control include the
European Drug Monitoring Centre (EMCDDA) whose aim is to provide evidence to inform
policymaking and guide initiatives to tackle drugs, the Canadian Centre of Drug Abuse (CCSA)
that addresses issues of substance use and addiction in Canada and its affiliate states by
providing national leadership and mobilizing the power of evidence to generate coordinated and
harmonized action, the Society for Prevention Research (SPR), the European Society for
Prevention Research (EUSPR) which promotes development of prevention of drugs and
substance abuse and its application with an aim of promoting and enhancing human health and
well-being through high quality research, evidence based interventions, policies and practices
and the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
(INL) who have been the originator and major funder of the initiative and who keep the INL
works to keeps the Americans and its affiliates safe by countering crime, illegal drugs, and
instability abroad.
The issue of possession, use or distribution of illicit drugs and brews in prisons is
prohibited by federal law. In 1970, the U.S Congress passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse
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Prevention and Control Act which a primary reference to the federal law on controlled
substances (World Health Organization, 2013). Thus, strict penalties are provided for in the law
on drug convicts including mandatory prison terms for many offenses. Penalties increase
significantly where use of the illicit drugs results in death or serious bodily injury. Federal drug
laws, including the Controlled Substances Act, regulate the possession, trafficking, and
manufacturing of drugs. Even though states have their own laws on drugs, federal laws supersede
state laws—including those regarding the medical/recreational use of marijuana.
Policy Implementation for Counselling Services in Prisons
In order for counselling to take place effectively in prisons, there are structures that need
to be put in place as well as policies to be adopted and implemented. This includes measures that
are aimed at providing solutions to the problem at hand. However, there is need to note that there
are cases in the prisons whereby no counselling services are required but just the correctional
measures done by the prison systems. Otherwise, some of these policies will take an incremental
approach in counselling whereas others need full implementation.
Among the policies that will be discussed in this section are based and focused on an
incremental approach based on the principle that the authorities in the criminal justice system
should so much focus on the objective of the need for counselling and must be willing to
consider the available options that can lead to a selected solution. In the 1970s, countries such as
Denmark, US, Germany and United Kingdom employed the incremental approach in criminal
justice system in which they designed more formal legal processes with consideration of the
problems that were facing the criminal justice system among them being the use of illegal drugs
En prisons (D’Amico, & Williamson, 2015). As such, they emerged the world leaders in using
this approach.
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Another approach to proposing a solution to the issue at hand is the full implementation
approach Implementation in which the parties involved must carry out some trials and tests on
the criminal justice system so as to actually establish the cause and nature of misuse of drugs and
alcohols in prisons. This is different from creating a policy because it is not in itself a
compilation of goals to be fulfilled but has simple specific objectives of its implementation.
Implementation plans are laid so that actions are put in place in order to achieve desired results.
A full implementation plan often converts a policy into an action program. Full implementation
therefore entails a correctional or a prison counselor, or prison counselor, who engages the
inmates with necessary correctional facilities to help them work through their issues.
Still, the counselor finds it necessary to work with inmates one-on-one in exploring their
mental health concerns and emotional problems that could otherwise lead to re-addiction to
drugs and its related criminal behaviors. In England and Wales, the law of implementation was
successfully used in curbing the use of drugs and alcohols. It is different from creating a policy
and instead, structures that aid in carrying out chain of events which can lead to outburst of ideas
without conflicting or vague goals are put into action plan to bridge the gap excessive use of
drugs and alcohols among prisoners and lack of counselling service provision (Kolind, et al.,
2013).
In these countries, full implementation is done informally by the fellow prisoners,
community organizations and even individuals as well as informally by the prisons managements
or legislators and courts. Initially however, it was not easy to identify and assess the extent of
drug and alcohol usage in the UK prisons but with monitoring of implementation in place, the
criminal justice system was able to identify the potential obstacles to why the issue of alcohols
and drug usage was growing rampant as well as being able to access enough support system of
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resources and acknowledgement from the legal framework (Woodall, & Tattersfield, 2018).
Therefore, the solutions proposed in this section are in line with the impact that they have on the
legal criminal justice department, external stakeholders and budgetary implications at large.
Departmental Impact
The departmental impacts of counselling proposals in prisons can range from internal to
external impact. Counselling creates a significant relief to the operations of the legal systems in
that instead to dealing with crime as a whole, it can be narrowed down to specific individuals or
cases and situations thus making it necessary to have departmental reorganization on the way
criminal offenses are viewed, considered and resolved (Moore, & Hamilton, 2016). It is true and
clear that counselling and psychological therapy have a substantial role that they play in
addressing the psycho-social needs of drug usage offenders and ex-offenders and other related
groups within the criminal justice system.
Other than clinical and pharmacological intervention, emotional needs and mental well-
being should be well researched with an aim of striving to diagnose the underlying issues behind
addiction to alcohol and drugs even while in prison. Not only is counselling need aimed at
diagnosing pre-existence of mental illness and distress, but also establishment of an integrated
and harmonized approach that seeks to address the needs of alcohol and drug addicts who could
have suffered from trauma and psychological depreciation caused by the strict punitive measures
within the criminal justice framework without necessarily focusing on the mental and social
well-being of the prisoner (SOURCE).
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons policy, it is the right of a prisoner to access
counselling services and facilities in as much the society is being protected by confining
offenders in a controlled environment (Williams, & Rothman, 2017). In an effort to reduce the
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wage bill in alcohol and drug related counselling in prions, the Yemen federal government has in
the recent years embraced development of community-based facilities that are safe, humane,
cost-efficient and secure with an aim of providing work and other self-improvement
opportunities to assist offenders in providing more advanced support and psychosocial care for
federal inmates. The need for prison counselling should be embraced a joint effort of the
government, criminal justice departments and the role of counsellors.
Impact to external stakeholders
Engaging stakeholders in the counselling process so as to gain their support is paramount
to gaining the best counselling practices for a sustainable correctional system. Also, it creates a
long-term relationship with beneficial and loyal stakeholder ties. Both internal and external
stakeholders are important in the criminal justice system because they contribute in one way or
another to the progress and success of the process. External stakeholders in this context are those
who do not directly work with the criminal justice system but are affected by the actions and
outcomes of the legal decisions which are made against criminal offenses. They include the
correctional counsellors, government agencies, media, special interest groups such as the faith-
based groups, suppliers, community groups which provide services to former offenders, family
members to offenders as well as trade unions among others. Counselling services offered to
prison users of drugs and alcohol will have an impact to the above mentioned groups in one way
or the other. The role of counselling to a prisoner aims at changing the way the society views the
offenses committed as well as an indicator to reviewing the punitive measures applied in the
context of the criminal justice system (Mosweunyane, & Montsho, 2015).
External stakeholders might not figure out the need for counselling until it is evident that
this crucial process can play a big role in minimizing the use of drugs and alcohols in prisons.
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We look at a case in Africa in Botswana where drugs and alcohol counselling has been tried in
prisons and brought a very big impact in reducing the burden of setting up rehabilitation centers,
changing the approach of addicts to drugs and alcohol use in prisons, saving activists the hustle
of harmonizing the federal laws to accommodate some elements of legal laws governing use of
drugs and alcohol within and without prisons among the addicts.
Budgetary Implication and Impact
Drugs and alcohol counselling has its budgetary implications that come with it. For
instance, in as much as it might be among the solutions to use of drugs and alcohols in prison,
supportive structures have to be put in place. Thus, financial programs need to be established in
terms of the counselling schedules, the human resources to be involved, acquisition of material
resources, government taxes to be submitted from the allocation as well as the cost of sustaining
budget expertise. Studies show that as one of the key arms of the federal governments the
criminal justice system gets the financial resources for its operations from the annual budget
process. Therefore, before the counselling process is considered, a document containing its
terms, conditions and requirements must be prepared in a legal and comprehensive manner
outlining clearly the various functions and services to be undertaken.
Thus, an efficient and effective counselling process must consider the best practice
guidelines supported by an effective budget process that has a long-term scope. This is done to
ensure linkages with other funding organization as well to focusing on budgetary decisions and
outcomes. As a result, the solution offered here should be seen as proting effective
communication with stakeholders, provoking acquisition of government incentives and
management so as to improve on performance and efficiency of the process itself.
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Christian Worldview Approach to Proposal Implementation
A Christian worldview upholds the fact that God is the sovereign and supreme of
humanity and all existence and that He exceeds all his creation and that there is nothing
underlying that is impossible A Christian worldview also contends that God is set apart from and
transcends His creation (Ephesians, 1:11) which says “In him we have obtained an inheritance,
having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the
counsel of his will . . . “ Pastoral care and counselling is one of the key vocations and values of
the Christian foundation. The global call for reforms has greatly involved the Christian
chaplaincy in providing counselling against use of drugs and alcohols in prison alongside
spiritual development. Research has shown that “…….policymakers and criminal justice
practitioners are increasingly turning to the faith community to help meet the multiple needs of
returning prisoners…..” (Lutze et al, 2014). An examination into the effectiveness of faith-based
organizations reveals that in their efforts to improve prisoner re-entry into drugs and alcohol, it is
evident that the Christian world views brewing and use of drugs in prison as a re-offense which
should be punitive despite the role that proper counselling does.
In Latin America, studies show that he need for prison-based substance abuse treatment is
profound (Dogan et al., 2021) examined psychological treatment needs of offenders entering the
state prisons in Ohio. The research indicates that more than half fully dependent on drugs and
substance while about 10% were dependent on at least on both drug substance and alcohol.
Among the drugs which they depended on, there was urgent need for counselling and
psychological treatment for cocaine and marijuana. A brief survey was carried out on the
prisoners and it emerged that even the female prisoners were still dependent on these drugs and
when asked, they confessed that they would want to undergo therapies that would see them stop
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using the drugs and alcohol. Nearly 60 percent of respondents said that treatment would be of
use to them.
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