Drug treatment in Swedish prisons - moving towards evidence-based interventions?
Sammanfattning
AIM – This article reviews the development in Sweden of prison-based drug treatment (PBDT)
from the 1970s to the present situation. DATA – The data consists of committee reports, white
papers, research reports and interviews with two senior managers from the Swedish Prison and
Probation Services (SPPS). RESULTS – The 1970s and 1980s trials with milieu therapy in prisons
were followed by the introduction of cognitive programmes in the 1990s. Due to the growing number
of prisoners with drug problems, the Prison Anti-Drug Effort increased the number of places and
programmes for drug treatment in prisons. As of 2000, the scientific evaluation of all prison-based
drug treatment has been strongly emphasised. Drug control has increased since 2004, and the
very concept of PBDT is now approached rather more rigorously and scientifically. CONCLUSION
– The SPPS programme evaluations are scientifically formed, but changes in practice are slow to
emerge. The SPPS runs a more restricted policy compared to treatment outside, which leads to
some evidence-based treatment methods being rejected. Also, PBDT is somewhat under threat
by changes in the prisons’ internal organisation with growing specialisation in different wings, as
well as by the poor financial situation of the SPPS.