Organised Crime & Crime Prevention - what works? - Scandinavian ...

NSfK’s 40. forskerseminar, Espoo, Finland 1998
Egg, 1992). A recent study of young English criminal offenders (Kirby, 1993) showed that
93% of those asked said they had been abusing drugs regularly, and that they committed
crime in order to finance their drug purchases.
According to the studies conducted by Sigurdsson and Gudjonsson (1994, 1996) of alcohol
and drug abuse by Icelandic prisoners prior to the service of their sentences, three out of
every four participants reported having been under the influence of some intoxicating
substance when committing the crime for which they were sentenced, and of these, 64% said
that they had been under the influence of alcohol and 33% under the influence of illicit drugs
(Sigurdsson and Gudjonsson, 1994). The prisoners were asked various questions concerning
their drug abuse before they were incarcerated. A sizeable proportion seemed to have
considerable alcohol or other drug problems. Seventeen per cent said that they had been using
alcohol or some illicit drugs on a daily basis for the six months prior to imprisonment, and
almost one-fourth (23%) said that they had at some time used drugs by injection. Almost one
third considered themselves to have a drug problem, and 57% said that they had received
treatment for alcohol or drug abuse at some time (Sigurdsson and Gudjonsson, 1995, 1996).
An excerpt of Sigurdsson’s and Gudjonsson’s writings on alcohol and drug abuse by
Icelandic prisoners was published in the Annual Report of the Prison and Probation
Administration for 1993.
Since 1990, the Prison and Probation Administration (hereafter abbreviated PPA) has offered
prisoners the option of completing the last six weeks of their imprisonment by taking part in a
treatment programme for alcohol and drug abuse with SAA (Samtök áhugamanna um
áfengisvandamálið), a government-supported private organisation that offers treatment to
alcohol and drug abusers. This is a traditional six week programme based on the medical
model of alcoholism (Minnesota Model) and the twelve AA (Alcoholic Anonymous) steps.
This is done in accordance with the Prisons and Imprisonment Act, No. 48/1988, which
provides for the possibility of housing a sentenced person in a hospital or other institution for
treatment, if this is considered feasible on account of health, age or other (unspecified)
reasons. Until 1990 this provision was usually only applied in cases of physical illness where
hospitalisation was required, as no medical treatment wards have ever been operative in
Icelandic prisons. This treatment option is one of three alternatives of imprisonment in
Iceland, the others being community service, which was legalised in 1995, and transfer to a
half-way house in Reykjavik run by the Prison Aid Association, which also started in 1995.
Most prisoners applying for completion of a prison sentence by treatment for alcohol and
drug abuse do so at their own initiative, but this also happens frequently as a result of a
recommendation or at the instigation of others, in particular family members or persons
employed within the prison system. The applications are examined by the PPA, which grants
such permissions in consultation with the chief physician at SAA on the basis of the
prisoner’s conduct or performance when serving his sentence and any other indications as to
whether his desire is expressed in earnest. In 1990-1996 a total of 120 prisoners were afforded
the opportunity of completing their sentences by taking part in such a programme. Most
prisoners permitted to complete their sentences in this manner have been sentenced to fairly
long prison terms, which most often are terminated by conditional release on probation. By
offering this option, the idea is to provide for the prisoners a better preparation for life outside
prison. Before the treatment starts a written agreement is entered into between the prisoner
and the PPA, specifying the conditions accepted by the prisoner. He undertakes to obey
certain rules and orders issued by both the PPA and SAA. If the conditions set are violated, or
if the prisoner wants to terminate the treatment, he is brought to prison again, where he
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