buprenorphine injections ( which lasted a month and saved staff time as well as pharmacy visits ) and providing a family service to create a strong network on release . Recruiting peer mentors had given an extra , and very valuable , level of support to recovery services , while resettlement workers looked at housing needs .
The demographic of different prisons had informed different initiatives – from a particular emphasis on harm reduction in a high-security environment , to care around hormones in a women ’ s prison , to an ‘ Old Wise Lads ’ mutual aid group in a prison with a population of over-50s . But throughout each estate , continuity of care was a real challenge , she said . ‘ We need to look at our practice – and the gaps .’
Pete explained how , after leaving prison in 2000 , he became trapped in a ‘ cycle of failure ’. He had treatment with methadone in prison , but once outside and faced with the same housing problems , he would be back on heroin , back to the police station , back to prison , back on a script . And so it continued .
‘ There was no support between prison and community , nothing ever materialised at the gate ,’ he said . ‘ The first thing I wanted to do was celebrate with a drink … then crack and heroin .’ It was similar
Some challenging questions …
‘ Can we address the drivers of drug use in prison ?’ Pete : ‘ We ’ re never going to stop drug use . People are making money and will just come up with something else .’
‘ Did you get any help with trauma ?’ Pete : ‘ Is it the right environment to address trauma ? Going back to hostile wings ? You want to open people up to explore their emotions ? I had to be left alone – it was the only way to deal with it . I felt powerless . I was angry and
each time , beginning with sofa surfing at the dealer ’ s . ‘ I ’ d think , what ’ s the point ? It ’ s all I know . And it happened to many others I know .
‘ There ’ s such a culture of picking on the vulnerable . I saw the spice culture escalate and it was pitiful . I knew someone who committed suicide with no hope of getting out . You get used to blocking out feelings – you can ’ t show vulnerability .’
In looking for solutions and hearing the varied experiences of the group , it was clear that no one thing worked for everyone . For some , it was 12-step communities , but you had to ‘ want them to work ’. For others it was a methadone detox , and the opportunity to feel better . Training and employment programmes had offered ‘ massive therapeutic value ’.
But the reality for so many prisons was that life inside and outside was a struggle . Men leaving the prison on a Friday with £ 80 in their pockets had to navigate the line of dealers ’ shiny cars and the newsagent doing a brisk trade in Kestrel Super . The key factors that would offer the chance of a different outcome were housing , recovery and employment – but if any of them were missing there was little hope .
A change of direction for Pete came at the age of 42 , when he ‘ changed his mentality ’ by focusing on restorative justice . Mike Trace believed that restorative justice
frustrated , but I couldn ’ t show emotion as blokes would walk all over that .’
‘ Is there a difference to how women respond to treatment – and are there any factors that affect recovery ? Jessica Scott : ‘ Women can be a support to the whole family . Give them power . They keep everything together but no one is looking after them . Women don ’ t get a lot of visitors – men get women to visit them . And they are often exploited .’
was key – particularly when people were past their mid-20s , as it could be difficult to get through to them in the ‘ gang stages ’ when they were enjoying themselves and hadn ’ t yet hit the ‘ misery stage ’. Yet even though he ’ d listened to the ‘ realities and difficulties of going against the flow ’, we should never get to the position of saying someone can ’ t recover , he said . ‘ Downview was once known as Brownview , because of all the heroin , but we created an oasis of calm , where 15 to 20 people lived differently .’ Similarly , living on a recovery wing in Wandsworth in the 1990s offered a very different experience . ‘ Don ’ t be naïve ,’ he advised – ‘ but never say we can ’ t do it .’ DDN
Andrew Fox / Alamy
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