Norwegian Prison Research Articles

Drug and alcohol problems among Norwegian inmates

Aim & Data Drug and alcohol problems among Norwegian inmates were explored in this study. Estimates of the portion of drug users among inmates were assessed on the most solid basis to date. The analysis was based on a survey of all Norwegian prisons. During the same week in December 2002 all Norwegian inmates received a questionnaire to survey demographic features, use of alcohol and illicit drugs. Results The findings suggest that nearly half of the prison population has regularly used hard drugs before the imprisonment, and a fourth were regular intravenous drug users. Polydrug use is highly prevalent. Almost one-third of the inmates used illicit drugs during the present stay in prison. The proportion of highly frequent drinkers appears to be three to four times that found in the general population.

Education of prison inmates: course experience, motivation, and learning strategies as indicators of evaluation

Course experience, motivational beliefs, and self-regulated learning strategies may be considered to be important indicators of education quality. Inmates taking education in prison may also experience particular problems related to the learning environment and to their own learning difficulties. The present study investigated the level of these variables and the relationship between them among 534 inmates under education in Norwegian prisons. The results showed that the prison inmates are generally quite satisfied with the education quality, that they are highly motivated, and use appropriate learning strategies. However, many of them experience that problems such as lack of access to computer equipment and the security routines in prison interfere with their education. A structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis showed that motivational beliefs were mediators between course experience and self-regulated learning strategies. These findings were discussed with respect to improvement of the education quality in prisons and to theoretical issues with relevance beyond the prison context.

Relationship between methadone and EDDP (2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine) in urine samples from Norwegian prisons

Methadone maintenance treatment is a widely used therapy in the rehabilitation of opioid addiction the world over. Methadone is metabolised in the body to a number of inactive metabolites, but primarily to 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP). The Division of Forensic Toxicology and Drug Abuse (DFTDA) of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health carries out drug analysis of urine samples from inmates of prisons throughout Norway. Methadone and EDDP in the urine are also tested for upon request. The results are stored in a secure database at the DFTDA. The aims of the present study were (1) to observe variations in methadone and EDDP concentrations in urine in relation to urine pH in a large set of urine samples obtained from prison inmates and (2) to analyse samples testing methadone-positive/EDDP-negative and investigate whether such results could occur naturally, without sample tampering. All urine samples that tested positive for methadone over the period 2004-2005 were collected from the DFTDA database, and the relation between methadone and EDDP excretion in urine, and urinary pH was determined. Samples that tested positive for methadone but negative for EDDP were picked out and studied individually. A total of 1539 urine samples (cases) had tested positive for methadone in our database for the period 2004-2005. There was a strong correlation between the concentration of methadone in urine and urine pH in these samples, with higher concentrations of methadone present at lower pH levels. Cases that tested positive for methadone but negative for EDDP were rare - a total of five (0.3% of all cases tested). These cases were studied in more detail. Methadone excretion in urine is dependent on urinary pH. Methadone-positive/EDDP-negative results may suggest sample tampering in some, but not all, cases.

Attitudes towards prisoners, as reported by prison inmates, prison employees and college students

BackgroundPositive attitudes towards prisoners are important in securing the effectiveness of various correctional rehabilitation programs and the successful reintegration of prisoners after release. We wanted to investigate the attitudes towards prisoners among prison inmates, prison employees and college students.MethodsThe Attitudes Toward Prisoners scale was completed by 298 inmates in 4 Norwegian prisons, 387 employees working in the same prisons, and 183 college students. In addition, all respondents were asked a number of general questions about prisoners, crime and punishment.ResultsThe study groups differed significantly in their attitudes towards prisoners, as measured by the Attitudes Toward Prisoners scale, with prison inmates holding the most positive attitudes. Prison officers held more negative attitudes than other prison employees. Prison employees working in female-only facilities held more positive attitudes than those working in male-only facilities. Students differed significantly in their attitudes, with those studying business economics holding more negative attitudes than those studying nursing. A number of strong correlations emerged between negative attitudes towards prisoners and more pessimistic and punitive answers on general questions about prisoners, crime and punishment.ConclusionThe attitudes towards prisoners differed markedly among the groups investigated. The findings could have important implications, particularly for the preventive work carried out in our prisons. Whether attitudes toward prisoners can be influenced by educational programs and the dispersion of factual information needs to be investigated.

Mental health consultations in a prison population: a descriptive study.

BackgroundThe psychiatric morbidity among prison inmates is substantially higher than in the general population. We do, however, have insufficient knowledge about the extent of psychiatric treatment provided in our prisons. The aim of the present study was to give a comprehensive description of all non-pharmacological interventions provided by the psychiatric health services to a stratified sample of prison inmates.MethodsSix medium/large prisons (n = 928) representing 1/3 of the Norwegian prison population and with female and preventive detention inmates over-sampled, were investigated cross-sectionally. All non-pharmacological psychiatric interventions, excluding pure correctional programs, were recorded. Those receiving interventions were investigated further and compared to the remaining prison population.ResultsA total of 230 of the 928 inmates (25 %) had some form of psychiatric intervention: 184 (20 %) were in individual psychotherapy, in addition 40 (4 %) received ad hoc interventions during the registration week. Group therapy was infrequent (1 %). The psychotherapies were most often of a supportive (62 %) or behavioural-cognitive (26 %) nature. Dynamic, insight-oriented psychotherapies were infrequent (8 %). Concurrent psychopharmacological treatment was prevalent (52 %). Gender and age did not correlate with psychiatric interventions, whereas prisoner category (remanded, sentenced, or preventive detention) did (p < 0.001). Most inmates had a number of defined problem areas, with substance use, depression, anxiety, and personality disorders most prevalent. Three percent of all inmates were treated for a psychotic disorder. Remand prisoners averaged 14 sessions per week per 100 inmates, while sentenced inmates and those on preventive detention averaged 22 and 25 sessions per week per 100 inmates, respectively. Five out of six psychiatric health services estimated the inmates' psychiatric therapy needs as adequately met, both overall and in the majority of individual cases.ConclusionOur results pertain only to prisons with adequate primary and mental health services and effective diversion from prison of individuals with serious mental disorders. Given these important limitations, we do propose that the service estimates found may serve as a rough guideline to the minimum number of sessions a prison's psychiatric health services should be able to fulfil in order to serve the inmates psychiatric needs. The results rely on the specialist services' own estimates only. Future studies should take other important informants, including the inmates themselves, into consideration.

‘The Unfinished’

At the end of the 1960s, a prisoners' movement critical of the prison system developed in the Scandinavian countries. Particularly strong in Norway, the key expression of this abolitionist movement was the notion of ‘the unfinished’. The political message of the Norwegian Prison Movement (KROM) is that the unfinished state of politics towards any desired socio-political development should be considered not as a flaw, but rather as a political possibility. The discussion among Norwegian criminologists and sociologists of law critical of the combination of treatment and criminal justice in the 1950s and 1960s was an indispensable condition for the development of a politics of abolition. This article sketches the central arguments of the discussion, and a connection is established between the abolitionist perspective and sociological theory.

Can morbidity be inferred from prescription drug use? Results from a nation-wide prison population study

To estimate psychiatric and somatic morbidity in a nation-wide prison population, as inferred from detailed medication sheets. Medication sheets from 37 prisons, covering 90% of the Norwegian prison population, were collected and examined by experienced clinicians. All inmates on medication were assigned best-estimate psychiatric and/or somatic diagnoses according to the International Classification of Primary Care diagnostic system. Among the 2617 inmates 919 (35%) had psychiatric disorders, as estimated by our methodology. Depressive disorders (11%) and sleep disorders (11%) were most prevalent. Twenty-six inmates (1%) were prescribed medication indicative of affective psychosis and an additional 77 (3%) received anti-psychotic drugs in doses indicating other psychotic disorders, bringing the sum total of psychosis up to 103 (4%). A total of 848 inmates (32%) were estimated to suffer from somatic disorders. Various pain conditions were prevalent (11%) in addition to obstructive airway diseases and asthma (4%). Both psychiatric and somatic disorders were more prevalent in female prisoners. This study has demonstrated high psychiatric and somatic morbidity in a nation-wide population of prison inmates receiving adequate health services. As the morbidity estimates are inferred from prescription drug use they must be interpreted with caution. However, we do believe that our study, utilizing this unconventional but readily available source of information, has yielded valuable knowledge regarding the physical and mental health of a nation-wide prison population.

Too much or too little? Prescription drug use in a nationwide prison population

Aim ‐ To describe prescription drug use in a nationwide prison population and compare it with contemporary drug use in other relevant populations as well as in a prison population 25 years ago. Method ‐ Detailed medication sheets from 37 prisons, covering 90% of the Norwegian prison population, were collected. All drugs were transcribed into the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system, and Defined Daily Doses/100 inmates were calculated. Data enabling relevant comparisons were gathered from reliable sources. Results ‐ Among the 2,617 inmates investigated, 48% used no medication. Sixteen percent used both psychotropic and somatic drugs, 17% psychotropic drugs only, and 19% somatic drugs only. Strong correlations between drug use and gender, age, and prison characteristics were demonstrated. Psychotropic drug use was higher than in the general population but lower than in a psychiatric hospital unit. Somatic drug use was lower than in the general population, except non‐steroid antiinflammatory agents, antihistamines, and drugs to alleviate obstructive airway diseases. Psychotropic drug use, particularly antidepressant use, was higher than in prisons 25 years ago. Conclusion ‐ High levels of use of all psychotropic and a number of somatic drugs were demonstrated in this nationwide prison population. Treatment studies are needed in order to ascertain whether the high levels of use of particularly psychotropic medications are indeed improving the mental health of prisoners.

Inmates' Social Background and Living Conditions

Central criminological theoretical approaches, such as strain theory, control theory and critical theory, have as precondition that offenders often are marginalized and belong to the lower classes in society. Particularly the prison population has been assumed to suffer from severe material and social conditions. In the case of Norway, the empirical evidence on this assumption has been scarce and a broader and systematic approach has been lacking. This paper presents findings from a survey of the standard of living among a Norwegian prison population. Conventional measurements of welfare are examined, including accumulation of welfare deficiencies and situation at release. The findings indicate that the prison population live under very poor conditions, and are confronted with major difficulties at release concerning housing, money and work. The interpretation is emphasizing the living conditions as opportunity structures where welfare deficiencies put limits to the individuals' possibility to govern their own lives. Hence, inadequate living conditions should not necessarily be considered as causes of crime, but as a narrowed opportunity structure where other choices are limited.

Personality Disorders, Psychopathy, and Crime in a Norwegian Prison Population

Psychopathic individuals typically present with associative learning impairments under explicit learning conditions. The present study aimed to investigate whether the formation of stimulus-outcome associations, as well as updating of these associations after changed contingencies, could be improved by using rewards with sufficiently high subjective values. To this end, 20 psychopathic offenders, 17 non-psychopathic offenders and 18 healthy controls performed a passive avoidance task with a reversal phase under three motivational conditions, using naturalistic rewards. The subjective values of the rewards were assessed a priori for each individual participant using a visual analogue scale. The correspondence of these values to their internal representation was confirmed by analyses of brain potentials. Analyses using both signal detection theory and classical approaches indicated that psychopathic offenders performed worse compared to the other groups during passive avoidance learning. However, using the signal detection approach, we found this deficiency to be present only when a hypothetical reward was used (‘neutral reward’ condition), whereas psychopathic offenders performed similar to the other groups when naturalistic rewards could be obtained (‘low reward’ and ‘high reward’ conditions). Furthermore, traditional analyses suggested that psychopathic offenders had more hits than the other groups during reversal learning, but the signal detection approach indicated that no effects of group or condition were present. Analysis of win-stay and lose-shift behaviour showed that psychopathic offenders were less likely to stay with a rewarded response during passive avoidance learning in the neutral reward condition. In addition, regardless of experimental phase or condition, psychopathic offenders were less likely to stop responding to a particular stimulus after receiving negative feedback. Although the approaches employed did not lead to unequivocal results, our findings suggest that psychopathic offenders do have the ability to adapt their behaviour to environmental contingencies when positive reinforcers with sufficiently high subjective values are used.

About the Effects of Treatment Provided for Convicted Drug Addicts

Section 12 of the Norwegian Prisons Act provides for convicted persons to be transferred to a treatment institution as part of the serving of their sentence. In recent years with a growing drugs problem this provision of section 12 of the Prisons Act has been applied to an ever greater extent in the case of inmates with a drug abuse problem. One purpose of transferring inmates to a treatment institution has been to prevent recidivism. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of serving under section 12 with respect to criminal relapse. We find no preventive effect from serving under section 12 with respect to recidivism.

Conditions of Confinement within Security Prisons: Scandinavia and California

Within the past three decades, the Scandinavian countries have acquired an international reputation for the development of innovative and humane prisons. Most of the favorable attention from journalists and social scientists has centered upon the socalled “model prisons,” which are typically smaller, newer, and “open.” However, the majority of Scandinavian prisoners are still incarcerated in the larger, older, locked prisons that are rather traditional in design and function. One might question whether these traditional prisons are, in fact, superior to American state prisons and whether they would meet emerging U.S. standards for conditions of confinement. This investigation surveyed the nature of prison programs, staffing ratios, living conditions, and visiting conditions within 16 “closed” or secure prisons, including 4 each from Norway, Sweden, Finland, and California. On most measures, the conditions of confinement were most severe in California prisons, much less severe in Finnish prisons, and least severe in Norwegian and Swedish prisons.

Prison Inmates' Reactions to Furlough

Long-term inmates in two Norwegian prisons were inter viewed as they returned from furlough. Major benefits ascribed to furloughs by inmates include restoration of human relation ships and the building of bonds with outsiders, the testing of community acceptance, relief from the strains and discomforts of imprisonment, improvement in mental health, tasting of routine civilian life, renewal of hope and future perspective, opportunity for making practical arrangements for return to the community, and an increase in self-confidence. The principal liabilities of the furlough experience as seen by the inmate relate to the return to prison and the problems of readjustment after return.

The incidence of mental disease among refugees in Norway.

In Norway, the refugee problem has not been quantitatively significant. On the other hand, we have many examples to show that refugee work and interest for the fate of refugees has had an important position in the awareness and interest of the Norwegian people. The fact that the Nobel peace prize has twice been awarded to the High Commissioner for refugee organizations also speaks for itself. After the Russian revolution and its suppression in 1905 a small wave of emigrants came to Norway, and likewise after the 1917 revolution. Moreover we note a very limited and controlled immigration of victims of Nazi oppression from Germany and the occupied territories until World War II. After the war Norway was faced with a series of problems in connection with the refugees. In the first place it was a question of repatriation of Norwegian prisoners in Germany and refugees in Sweden, there were the forced evacuees from Finmark to be sent home, and then, last but not least, all the foreigners who had involuntarily landed in Norway during the war. Of these 140,000 were “displaced persons“. These had been brought to the country by the Germans either as civil workers or forced labourers in “Organization Todt”, “Organization Speer” or as prisoners of war, mainly Serbs (Jugoslavs), Russians and Poles. According to a list published in the annual report of the Ministry of Labour for 1947 (1948) the following figures are given:

Christopher Meidel and the First Norwegian Contacts with Quakerism

Fifteen years ago when some two million Americans of Norwegian ancestry were celebrating the centennial of the first migration from Norway to America I published in these pages an account of the Quaker antecedents of the famous voyage of the sloop Restaurationen. From English, Norwegian and American sources it was possible to recount the story of a group of Norwegian prisoners of war in prison ships on the Thames who were befriended and converted by English Quakers and returned home in 1814 to Stavanger and elsewhere to establish Quaker meetings. One of these men, Lars Larsen, with men of like independence, such as Cleng Peersen who preceded him and Knud Andersen Slogvig who followed, organized an escape from the clerical oppressions in Norway, purchased a small ship, and landing in New York in October 1825, proceeded inland to found in western New York the first of many Norwegian settlements in the United States. The following scattered data are now collected to indicate some earlier contacts between the English Quakers and Norway.