Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
even tell you who’s coming in or out of this establishment at the
moment” (HCS).
“I did ask for the psychologist in Limerick Prison, and it was this
dude in a suit and he didn’t give a fuck, he prescribed me
medication, that’s not what I wanted so I used to save it up and
take it on the weekend” (FM & Ex Female Prisoner).
Access to services
“No, its not there, no. We have AA on a Wednesday night but
they’re, a lot of the time they’re held up at the gate, at security,
they have to walk them across and they might not turn up to half
past six in the evening, they could be out there since half past
five. The whole system is totally in disarray” (MP)
“There was a meeting on here last night with counsellors and the
officers wouldn’t let them through, he said tell them to fuck off,
we’re having coffee” (MP).
Counselling approaches
“…it’s stage appropriate intervention, there’s a lot of people who
aren’t motivated, they’re pre-contemplative,….I think a lot more
could be done in terms of motivational work” (HCS).
“I often think the common dominator with drug abuse anyway is
physical or sexual abuse,….and if they really want to deal with
their addiction problems you have to go back that far” (HCS)
“Total abstinence is the goal….but they still need the help and
support, our aim is towards abstinence, how we get there, that
part can be very different from the regular treatment centres,
…basically, we’re open to any model” (HCS).
“You can’t trust them here,….you really need someone coming in
with a blank pass, before you would start to trust them” (MP).
Prisoner attitudes to counselling
“They’re nice people (counsellors) and all but most of the times
they’re talking out their arses, they only tell you what they think
you want to hear, they don’t really want to discuss the problems
that you have on your mind” (MP).
“And not filling me with all this AA crap, all this bullshit…maybe a
psychoanalyst, or a proper fucking detox under medial
supervision” (MP).
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