Other Interventions in the Criminal Justice System

The 2011 data of the Ministry of Justice - General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses (CTEGM) highlights the significance of drug and drug-related crimes in Turkey. As of 2011, there are 23638 inmates in penal institutions for crimes related to drugs. Although there has been a decrease in drug-related crimes compared to previous years, there is still a considerable number of inmates in penal institutions.

Graph 9-26: The Number of Individuals in Penal Institutions for Drug-related Crimes According to Year

Source: Ministry of Health General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses, 2012.

According to the 2011 data of the Ministry of Justice - General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses (CTEGM), as of 2011, there are 23638 inmates in penal institutions for crimes related to drugs (Graph 9-26). In the same period the total number of inmates is 128604. In this context, inmates who are involved to drug crimes consist of 18.38 of the total number.

Graph 9-27: The Breakdown of the Number of Detainees, Legal Detainees and Convicts in Penal Institutions for Drug-related Crimes According to Year

Source: Ministry of Health General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses, 2012.

Graph 9-28: Comparison Between 2010 and 2011 According to the Type of Crime

Source: Ministry of Health General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses, 2012.

The Ministry of Justice is responsible for coordinating the fight against drugs and drug addiction through the activities of its General Directorates. The General Directorates and institutions of the Ministry of Justice that conduct prevention and rehabilitation activities against drug addiction can be listed as follows:

- The General Directorate of Prison and Detention Houses and the Penal Institutions affiliated with this institution.

- The Department Responsible for Probation and Support Services of the General Directorate of Prison and Detention Houses, and its affiliated Branch Offices

Nowadays, drug addiction is considered a disease, and its treatment continues parallel to the legal processes. Drug users are directed to treatment services through probation, while in penal institutions there are individuals convicted and detained for drug trafficking and related crimes.

Changes in the law on criminal enforcement, the establishment of a probation system and the developments in treatment services are significant factors in the prevention of drug addiction.

Parallel to these developments that took place in recent years, projects initiated and

conducted within the context of the European Union accession process have significantly accelerated the activities in these areas.

In penal institutions, “The Alcohol and Substance Addiction Program” is the leading psycho-social support service provided for convicts/detainees who are alcohol and substance addicts.

The Alcohol and Substance Addiction Program in penal institutions is a 4-week program that consists of 16 sessions of nearly 1.5 hours each. This program is based on a treatment model that aims to minimize the harms of addiction through cognitive-behavioral therapy. The program intends to raise awareness among drug users with regards to receiving treatment.

The program also includes activities for convicts who used drugs or were involved in drug-related crimes, with an emphasis on activities regarding the harms of drug use and the skills for minimizing these harms.

Between September 19-23 and September 26-30, 2011, a group consisting of 45 psychologists and social workers received practical training at the Ankara Personnel Training Center. These training programs as well as the application of the program at an institutional level are currently ongoing. The training programs will continue in 2012, and revision studies for the program as well as instructor trainings are also planned.

The Adult Investigation and Evaluation Form (Y-ARDEF) Study was initiated as a pilot study in 2011 and conducted in 10 penal institutions. These institutions included two penal institutions for women as well as a F-type penal institution. A total of 1,125 forms were used, and 1,087 of these forms were included in the study (96.62%). Female convicts constituted 25% of the study sample (Ögel K., Başabak A., Y-ARDEF Pilot Study Report, 2011).

The study included 1.18% of all male convicts and 1.2% of all female convicts in Turkey. The average age within the sample was determined as 33.4. The proportion of individuals who were never married was 41.7%, while the proportion of divorcees was 13.8%. More than half of the convicts had children. The proportion of illiteracy was 4.9%, while the proportion of university graduates was 4.8%. The proportion of convicts with an elementary education was 76.8%. This result indicates that the majority of convicts have an elementary education. The proportion of convicts who wished to continue their education if given the means was 28.5%.

This result indicates that nearly one-third of the convicts would like to continue their education.

The prevalence of drug use on at least one occasion was 53.6% among men and 25% among women. Nearly half of the male participants described that they had used cannabis on more than three occasions. The proportion of convicts who tried heroin was also high. The results also indicated that alcohol-drug use is common among convicts. For both genders, the

proportion of those receiving addiction-related treatment was 7%. This result indicates that the need for treatment among convicts is significant. A close relation was identified between the severity of addiction, the risk-taking personality index and the convict’s mental problems. This result demonstrates that the problem of addiction is more common among those with anti-social characteristics or mental problems. In the evaluation performed within the context of the Y-ARDEF study to collect data regarding Injecting drug users, 867 of 1125 convicts provided an answer to the question, “Did you ever use an Injecting drug?” Among these 867 individuals, 833 (96.1%) answered that they never used such drugs, 5 (0.6%) answered that they used it once, and 29 (3.3%) answered that they used in two or more times. When the lifetime prevalence of drug use among convicts prior to their detention in penal institutions was evaluated, it was determined that 41.4% used cannabis, 12.6% used cocaine, 8.2% used heroin, 1.8% used amphetamine, 26.6% used ecstasy, and that 46.2% use of any illicit drugs (Ögel K., Başabak A., Y-ARDEF Pilot Study Report, 2011).

The Penitentiary Addiction Project (CEBAP), initiated in 2010 and continued throughout 2011, assessed the drug use habits as well as the severity of addiction among convicts, and attempted to direct convicts to the drug addiction activities that were the most suitable for them. The project has been implemented at the Ümraniye T-Type Penal Institution.

The Project was designed by Prof. Dr. Kültegin ÖGEL, the founder of the YENİDEN Health and Training Association. The developers of the project, as well as those in charge of implementing it, were the part-time specialist psychologists and the volunteer psychologists and psychological counselors at the YENİDEN Health and Education Association. Support and supervision for the project was provided by the psychosocial service of the association.

The project was first initiated with research that was designed to serve as a guide for the study. For this research, previously used and newly developed scales for drug addiction were administered by means of face-to-face interviews with 99 males sentenced for drug-related crimes. A standardization of the scales was performed in this context. The scales were conducted by psychologists assigned at the YENİDEN Health and Training Association and by correction officers who were trained in the use of these scales. The scales served to identify the frequency of drug use, the drugs being used, and the moods that lead to drug use among the convicts. The 2^nd phase of the project consisted of a group study entitled the Cigarette, Alcohol, and Drug Addiction Treatment Program (SAMBA). SAMBA is psychological training provided in a group format. The SAMBA sessions were conducted interactively, and included didactic elements and activities.