Drug testing and Incentivised Substance Free Living wings

ISFLs

Earlier this month (5 December 2024), the MoJ revealed analysis into drug testing and Incentivised Substance Free Residing wings (ISFLs) in three prisons. The analysis was carried out by RAND Europe with assist from Rosie Meek, Kirsty Hudson, Sarah Senker and Charlotte Scott. As many readers will know:

Obligatory drug testing is routinely carried out in prisons to observe drug developments, deter drug consumption (by way of sanctions), and determine people in want of additional assist.

ISFLs are devoted wings for prisoners who need to dwell in a drug-free setting, whether or not that be free from the consumption of medicine, the violence associated to medication, or the tradition of drug use. 

The analysis

The research was primarily based on interviews and focus teams with prisoners, interviews with jail employees, and observations of drug testing suites and ISFL wings. Fieldwork befell in March and April 2023 in three prisons: a class C males’s jail within the North of England; a class B/C males’s jail in Wales; and a closed girls’s jail within the South of England.

The findings are very blended and reveal lots of the challenges of delivering efficient drug free wings within the present jail property.

Drug testing

The research discovered that drug testing regimens seem like designed with restricted consideration of the variation and uniqueness of every jail and its inhabitants. The analysis recognized sensible limitations for prisoners on remand or serving brief sentences in accessing assist providers. Feminine prisoners skilled the method of being examined as degrading because of the completely different method that they supply a pattern compared to males.

The illicit use of prescription remedy, sourced by way of the jail’s remedy hatch and traded amongst prisoners, was reported to be prevalent in all three websites. There was no instant method for jail employees to know whether or not a constructive outcome was the results of misuse or respectable prescription use. The method for confirming this, by way of medical information, was described as prolonged and, at occasions, inappropriately punitive to prisoners legitimately taking prescription remedy. A number of employees and prisoners commented that the regimens had been testing for substances that had been broadly understood to not be consumed within the websites.

Drug testing regimens weren’t at all times seen to be efficient as a therapeutic device to assist prisoners or handle underlying wants that drive drug use. Typically, prisoners had been both detached to, or supportive of, drug testing itself. The punitive responses to constructive drug exams had been felt to do little to discourage drug use, within the absence of assist being supplied.

Most contributors, notably within the males’s prisons, felt that drug testing was presently ineffective at deterring drug use partly because of inconsistent implementation. Moreover, for some on the South of England jail the ‘profit’ of taking medication to assist cope with psychological well being points and jail life, outweighed the ‘value’ of getting caught.

ISFLs

There have been blended perceptions concerning the worth of ISFL throughout the jail inhabitants. Within the North of England and Welsh prisons, employees and prisoners had been typically constructive concerning the operation of the ISFL and attributed this to a peaceful environment, constructive and supportive relationships with employees and different prisoners, prolonged outing of cells and extra assist providers to assist prisoners handle their psychological well being wants. On the South of England jail, the ISFL was struggling to distinguish itself from different wings which employees and prisoners attributed to a scarcity of incentives particular to the ISFL. ISFLs had been described by each employees and prisoners as having ‘a nasty rep’ and creating ‘in poor health feeling’ amongst prisoners on different wings. This was put right down to jealousy and resentment concerning the further privileges and a notion that prisoners on ISFLs had been colluding with administration.

ISFL referral processes diversified considerably however the primary discovering was that the method for having the ability to reside on the wing gave the impression to be advert hoc was additionally unclear to many prisoners.

Approaches to coping with constructive drug take a look at outcomes from ISFL residents additionally differed. Within the North of England jail, a ‘two strikes’ method to excluding prisoners from the wing gave the impression to be applied persistently, whereas within the Welsh jail there was extra flexibility for prisoners who volunteered data that they’d used medication. Within the South of England jail no such penalty was utilized.

Speaking therapies and purposeful actions had been essential in supporting restoration. The peer-led element of therapies and the alternatives to construct supportive relationships with different residents by way of further outing of cells and in shared areas was felt to be efficient in serving to prisoners to know the drivers of their drug use and learn how to handle their psychological well being wants.

The significance of a steady, protected setting and offering actions tailor-made to the wants of the inhabitants was highlighted by interviewees. Many believed that an ISFL ought to primarily be a settled setting the place prisoners can entry assist to assist their wants, and that a mixture of prisoners, with and with out histories of drug use, was useful in creating this setting. Nonetheless, the setting within the ISFL on the South of England jail was described as ‘disruptive’ because it included prisoners who had not chosen to be on the ISFL, and different wings had been described as providing a extra therapeutic, communal setting.

Classes from the North of England and Welsh prisons level to some unintended destructive penalties that should be managed. Managing in poor health emotions from prisoners in different areas of the jail about the advantages that ISFL residents obtain could also be a problem. The dangers of making or rising disparities in jail experiences wants additional consideration. Moreover, employees and residents on the ISFL will not be properly outfitted and supported to cope with the traumatic experiences of prisoners that they’re uncovered to on the ISFL.

Conclusion

These aware of each drug testing and drug free wings in prisons are more likely to be unsurprised by these findings. Whereas limiting using medication in jail is clearly essential, MDT has hardly ever contributed a lot of worth to this finish.

The constructive setting wanted for an efficient drug-free wing inevitably throws into sharp comparability the shortage of an honest mainstream setting in most of our prisons in 2024.

Due to Andy Aitchison for form permission to make use of the header picture on this put up. You’ll be able to see Andy’s work right here