Premium
Services for Prisoners with Alcohol‐related Problems: a survey of U.K. prisons
Author(s) -
McMURRAN MARY,
BALDWIN STEVE
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
british journal of addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0952-0481
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1989.tb00788.x
Subject(s) - facilitator , prison , psychological intervention , service (business) , social work , alcohol consumption , work (physics) , psychology , public relations , psychiatry , nursing , criminology , social psychology , political science , business , medicine , alcohol , engineering , law , marketing , mechanical engineering , biochemistry , chemistry
Summary Offenders have been identified as heavy drinkers who admit to a relationship between drinking and offending. Many prisoners express a desire to reduce their alcohol consumption. The extent of alcohol interventions in U.K. prisons was unknown and so a postal survey was conducted to gather basic information about current work. Of all responding establishments, 91% claimed to provide services for prisoners with alcohol‐related problems and 58% gave details of these services. Services are provided mainly by probation officers/social workers, prison officers and Alcoholics Anonymous. Group and individual interventions are described. Service development has been haphazard, lacking central co‐ordination. A case is made for appointment of a central facilitator responsible for staff training, establishing a communications network, encouraging new interventions to match clients' needs, encouraging closer links with community workers and guiding evaluative research.