NCJ Number
194722
Journal
Substance Use & Misuse Volume: 37 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2002 Pages: 47-63
Date Published
2002
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examined drug and alcohol use by inmates during periods of incarceration. The objective of the study is to determine whether there were changes in drug and alcohol use after incarceration in terms of which substances were used, how frequently they were used, and why they were used.
Abstract
This study used questionnaire data from 317 randomly selected inmates who were incarcerated in 10 Quebec penitentiaries for at least 3 months. Of the 317 respondents, 93 were selected from 3 minimum-security prisons, 168 were from 5 medium-security prisons, and 56 respondents were housed in maximum-security penitentiaries. The questionnaire asked inmates about their alcohol and drug use patterns during the 3 months prior to their incarceration and then about their alcohol and drug use during the past 3 months spent in prison. The questionnaire also asked inmates about their motivation for drug and alcohol use before and during incarceration and about their normal psychological state in general and while intoxicated. The authors expected to find a reduction in both the frequency of drug and alcohol use and of the quantity of drug and alcohol use. Their findings suggest that the use of psychoactive drugs was identical for a portion of the inmates before and during incarceration. Of the respondents who used alcohol, 10 percent reported that they used it frequently while incarcerated, while 41 percent reported that they used as much alcohol in terms of quantity as before their incarceration. As for other types of drugs, 8 percent reported they used drugs with the same frequency while incarcerated and 29 percent of inmates used drugs in the same quantity as before their incarceration. The findings on motives for drug use prior to and during incarceration indicate that there are different motives for use. The majority of respondents who used drugs or alcohol while incarcerated reported that they did so to relax (62 percent). However, prior to incarceration, the majority of the respondents reported that they used drug or alcohol to forget their problems (31 percent) or to have fun (31 percent). The authors note that only 21 percent reported using drugs to relax before their incarceration. The findings concerning the inmates' self-reported psychological state indicate that 57 percent of those who used drugs during incarceration reported being in a better psychological state while intoxicated. The author calls for future research concerning the perception of prison guards regarding substance use in prisons. 2 Tables, 4 figures, and 38 references