We call her Amalie, but that's not her real name.
When Amalie woke up in prison after her arrest, she realised she needed help. Her life had long been chaotic. As a teenager, she began drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis. Over time, she started taking amphetamines, heroin and other drugs while she was working in the hospitality industry.
Amalie's story mirrors the experiences of many other prisoners.
- Quitting drugs and crime is often a painful process, says researcher Rose Lunde.
She has conducted research on drug recovery in Norwegian prisons. Amalie was one of Lunde's participants in her doctoral thesis research, who was at the time serving time in a high-security women's prison.
The prison environment
In prison, everything was amplified and the atmosphere was unstable and turbulent. Amalie witnessed several violent incidents. She withdrew socially and grew sceptical of both staff and fellow prisoners. The lack of meaningful activities further diminished her quality of life.
Things began to change when she was transferred to a low-security prison with a dedicated drug recovery unit. Amalie participated in a therapeutic program, had conversations with a psychologist, exercised regularly and received closer follow-up from staff. Together with a member of staff in civilian clothing, she was granted shorter periods of leave to meet family members, attend appointments, visit cafés and generally practise living without drugs.
For the first time in a long while, Amalie could envisage a future beyond her release. A life that seemed both frightening and exciting.
Drug treatment during imprisonment
Drug-related crimes make up the majority of prison sentences carried out in Norway, whilst the correctional services also provide drug recovery services.
- What surprised me is that your actual need for treatment does not necessarily determine what you receive, Lunde says.
Lunde, who has studied how drug recovery programs work within the context of punishment, says that the Norwegian correctional services are proud of their drug recovery units, with good reason. However, although guidelines exist regarding who should be offered a place, these guidelines appear to have limited use for staff making these decisions.
Lunde's research also shows that access to these services vary depending on the local culture of the prison and on the subjective assessments of various criteria by the staff. Not all people in prison are granted the same opportunities - in fact, it requires a bit of luck to be "in the right place at the right time".
Amalie was one of the lucky ones. But not everyone is as fortunate.
The 'ideal' client
One of Lunde's main findings concerns who is thought of as an 'ideal' client for such programs.
Gender, use of medications, language skills and the type of prison in which you are serving your sentence all affect the level of access.
- A lot of things have to be in order before you even have the opportunity to apply for a place on one of these drug recovery units, says Lunde.
The duration of one's sentence, offending history, and the existing dynamics of the unit all play a role in determining who gets a place; for example, a sentence might be judged as 'too short' or 'too long' for someone to make best use of the program.
Sexual offences, in particular, are highly stigmatised, meaning that persons convicted of such offences are generally not considered a suitable fit, with few exceptions. Applicants must also be 'sufficiently motivated' in the eyes of staff.
These kinds of programs are therefore not necessarily available for the most gravely ill, or vulnerable prisoners. Help is not necessarily given to the most gravely ill or vulnerable inmates.
'Waffle imprisonment'
For people like Amalie, who have been granted a place on one of these units, everyday life is often perceived as both different and better than on ordinary prison units. Some of Lunde's participants referred to these units as to this as being 'waffle imprisonment', a term that implies an overly privileged or 'soft' environment without the same 'tough' qualities of typical prison life. These units did provide an upgrade from ordinary imprisonment - better food, increased freedoms, and greater opportunities to practice a drug-free life outside in the community.
However, it is not a sanctuary free from demands.
- For some people, following such a regime can be very challenging. The price you pay is a form of increased surveillance, explains Lunde.
For example, prisoners on these units are expected to lay their feelings bare in groups comprising both staff and peers.
- In a regular prison, you often have to be tough to survive. Here, you need to do the opposite. You have to be vulnerable, she says.
Several of Lunde's participants appreciated the emphasis on change and self-work, as well as the more frequent drug tests and other measures that kept the environment comparatively drug-free. Regardless, it was acknowledged that this type of imprisonment was far more challenging than serving time on a regular unit and simply 'counting down' the days until release.
Correctional services under pressure
For Amalie, the transition from the chaotic environment of regular prison to the structure of the drug recovery unit was crucial. She received therapy, support and tools to help her prepare for life after prison.
However, it is not a given that everyone in Amalie's situation is offered the same kinds of support. In fact, there are many people in prison with significant drug use problems who fall outside the services currently on offer.
Despite the Norwegian prison model often being hailed internationally as a success story, Lunde describes a system under pressure. Due to a lack of funds and understaffing, many drug recovery units are, in practice, run more like ordinary prison units. It is also difficult to say how effective such programs are when there are other significant barriers to recovery.
- It should be the state's responsibility to ensure that people don't leave prison worse off than when they entered it. Providing treatment for people with drug use disorders, including those in prison, is not just good criminal justice policy, but good public health policy, Lunde says.
Drug treatment in a prison context
Rose Elisabeth Lunde has written the doctoral thesis ((P)rehab and Punishment: Drug Treatment, Therapeutic Intervention and Hybrid Penality at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law.
The thesis examines drug recovery units in the Norwegian prison system. Lunde analyses how the units operate and what influences their work. The analyses are based on the perspectives of inmates and staff in the Norwegian Correctional Service. Lunde has gathered extensive data through ethnographic fieldwork and interviews in four maximum-security prisons and one minimum-security prison.
The thesis is part of the research project 'PriSUD-Nordic: Treatment of substance abuse disorders in the prison population - an opportunity for better public health' (PriSUD).
