Prison-based therapeutic communities (TCs): A handbook for prison administrators, treatment professionals and trainers (2021)

Prison is a high-risk environment – for detainees and staff alike. People who inject drugs in prison are exposed to various health risks, such as overdosing, abscessed infections of injection sites, and the transmission of blood-borne diseases such as Hepatitis C or HIV. Consequently, drug policy experts around the world recommend developing drug treatment services and harm reduction interventions in prisons and criminal justice policies that include alternatives to imprisonment for people who use drugs and are in trouble with the law.

The Pompidou Group’s Criminal Justice and Prison Programme provides support in developing evidence-based criminal justice policies and comprehensive drug treatment systems in prisons. The various projects carried out under the Programme have assisted governments, public administrations and civil society organisations in improving drug treatment programmes and the social re-integration of detainees with a history of drug use in an effort to reduce relapse and recidivism and improve the health and wellbeing of people.

The Handbook on Prison-based Therapeutic Communities (TCs) was elaborated under this Programme and aims to provide a comprehensive guide to understanding the Therapeutic Community in the context of substance addiction, planning & establishing a TC in custodial settings and training the personnel to run it effectively.