INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE STUDY
2.7 Pollsmoor Substance Abuse Programmes
The following information concerning the substance abuse programmes was compiled from discussions with the DCS officials responsible for conducting the programmes at Pollsmoor and other correctional centres and from the programme manual used to conduct the programme.
The programme undertaken in the Pollsmoor Correctional Centre is done in partnership with the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA). The programme is used in a number of correctional centres and its purpose is to target incarcerated youth in Youth Correctional Centres throughout South Africa especially the youth awaiting trial, sentenced youth serving their current sentences and sentenced youth in pre-release (they will be released with a very short period of time) stages of their sentences as well as offenders sentenced for community corrections. The focus is on behavioural
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modification which could equip them to avoid substance abuse, crime and HIV/AIDS, as well as social and anti-social problems. The programme is only compulsory for those offenders who have been sentenced for substance abuse related crimes but is not promoted among those who may have substance abuse problems but whose crime is not related to substance abuse. The admission procedure when an offender first arrives at the prison does not identify substance abusers unless they voluntarily divulge this information in which case it can be made part of their sentence plan (A sentence plan identifies all the programmes that you need to attend prior to your being eligible for parole consideration).
This programme was developed following research carried out by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in collaboration with SANCA in 1996 on sentenced offenders. It was found that 76 % of the sentenced offenders were engaged in either alcohol or drug use during the period of committing the crime for which they were sentenced.
The programme is conducted over a period of thirteen interactive sessions and the overall goal of the project is to develop a situation conducive for incarcerated youth to change negative attitudes and behaviour towards living and maintaining a productive lifestyle among peer groups and society at large, and consequently promote the prevention of recidivism.
The objectives are:
To equip incarcerated youth with basic understanding of the link between substance abuse and negative behaviour.
To link HIV/AIDS and substance abuse information to youth awaiting trial, sentenced and pre release offenders.
To equip the incarcerated youth both unsentenced and sentenced with life skills not to become victims of circumstances
To give incarcerated youth alternatives on constructive use of leisure time.
To offer skills transfer to DCS personnel and to expand facilities and sustain the programmes throughout all correctional Centres.
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An Evaluation of the programme entails the following:
Continuous qualitative and quantitative group evaluation and out-come evaluation.
Follow up of programmes participants.
The collaboration with all other state departments and NGO‟s
Reduction in number of awaiting trial and sentenced offenders.
The programme is conducted in Afrikaans, Zulu, Sesotho, Xhosa and English over 13 sessions and deals with the following topics:
Orientation to the programme and the commitment that is required by each individual.
Values
Emotions and feelings
Phases of addiction – the process progression
Information on alcohol and drugs
The impact of addiction on physical, social, psychological and spiritual functioning.
Positive behaviour change
The link between HIV/AIDS/STD‟s and substance abuse
Interpersonal relationships
Communication
Conflict resolution
Decision Making
Problem solving
Peer pressure
Assertiveness
Self-esteem and self-image
Stress management
The link between substance abuse and life skills
My future
Alternatives to substance abuse
Support systems
Relapse prevention
Aftercare
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Evaluation
Termination
This programme does not continue throughout the offenders incarceration or until he has overcome the substance abuse. The interaction lasts for the period of the eighteen sessions and then ceases. The centre has social workers, psychiatrists and psychologists for individual consultations although these consultations are not part of any specific substance abuse programme or monitoring. These persons are the only personnel who are trained in the area of substance abuse to a level which will qualify them to assist offenders with a substance abuse problem. The centre official who conducts the programme has not obtained any official training and teaches the programme from the programme manual.
A second programme which is compulsory for all offenders to complete prior to their being able to be released on parole is known as the Crossroads programme.
All the other programmes that are part of the offenders‟ rehabilitation briefly cover the topic of substance abuse as it relates to the purpose of the programme.
For example, the programme which helps you deal with aggression will deal with the ways that substance abuse can lead to your lack of control over your actions.
But they are limited in scope on substance abuse.
This programme is conducted over eight sessions of approximately two and a half hours each. The relevance of this course to this study is that the programme covers the subject of choices. We all have make choices in life. No one makes these for us but we are subject to aspects such as peer pressure, social and community expectations. These affect our choices and if we allow these to affect our choices we are giving up our control over our own lives and this leads to our actions being dictated to by others. The programme therefore emphasises that our fist choice is whether we are going to control our lives or hand this over to our peers and others. The programme considers the positive and negative effects our decisions on our family, friends and our community especially as this relates to crime including drug abuse.
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