The Project

  • … addresses issues of health, healthy environments, and social inequality of a vulnerable group of young people (those in touch with criminal justice systems) who are at greater risk than their contemporaries of developing problem drug use, including polydrug use and use of NPS.
  • … identifies and describes drug using trajectories of the target group and key intervention points to facilitate prevention and intervention efforts and to promote healthier lifestyles.
  • … identifies and develops tools (e.g. guidelines for quality assurance) and mechanisms (e.g. Criminal Justice Practitioner Forum) to facilitate the implementation of ‘best practice’ approaches in EU member states.
  • … facilitates the exchange of knowledge across partner countries and across other EU member states (research based and experiential knowledge, shared and jointly developed)

Objectives

Collect and disseminate

knowledge and evidence for effective approaches and interventions to address polydrug use and use of NPS by young people in touch with the CJS

Analyse…

…the potential of identified initiatives and assess them against existing European Drug Prevention Quality Standards

Identify intervention points…

… within the drug using trajectories, with particular reference to the factors influencing, initiating, sustaining and desisting from polydrug use and use of NPS (e.g. age, gender, socio-economic status, involvement in criminal activity, lifestyle and cultural factors)

Examine…

…the appropriateness of existing European Drug Prevention Quality Standards within the criminal justice context and to develop a set of guidelines adapted to initiatives aimed at the target group;

Assess…

… transferability of intervention models and new guidelines across countries and cultures.

Initiate…

… a European knowledge exchange network for practitioners and stakeholders working with young people in the criminal justice system.

Methodology

  • Collection and analysis of existing knowledge as well as the generation of new knowledge from research;
  • Examination of existing European drug prevention quality standards, assessment of the relevance of existing standards for the development of prevention initiatives for the target group and the development of a new set of guidelines;
  • Working collaboratively with practitioners and other stakeholders relevant to the criminal justice system and to drug prevention work with young people;
  • Setting up systems to encourage knowledge exchange and communication across disciplines and across European countries.

Project structure

WP 1

Coordination of the project
Actions undertaken to manage the project and to make sure that it is implemented as planned.

WP 2

Dissemination of the project
Actions undertaken to ensure that the results and deliverables of the project will be made available to the stakeholders and target groups.

WP 3

Evaluation of the project
Actions undertaken to verify if the project is being implemented as planned and reaches the objectives

WP 4

Knowledge exchange on current evidence & practice: Research & documented evidence
Review of published literature and scoping survey to ascertain existing information on substance use among youth in criminal justice systems and identify prevention and intervention initiatives, including those evaluated as ‘best practice’.

WP 5

Drug using trajectories, innovative interventions and experiential evidence
Interviews / focus groups with young people and relevant stakeholders/ professionals a) to obtain ‘thick’ descriptions of their drug use trajectories with particular emphasis on polydrug use and use of NPS; b) to identify key points for intervention c) to obtain  perceptions and experiences of interventions to prevent/ reduce drug use.

WP 6

Guidelines for good practice & quality standards in the CJS
Using existing European drug prevention quality standards in drug demand reduction as a baseline, assess existing initiatives identified by the project and develop an adapted set of principles and guidelines for those working with young people in the criminal justice system.

WP 7

Cultural appropriateness & transferability
Assess the extent to which identified initiatives and guidelines for good practice are transferable across different cultural, social, and geographical contexts and identify criteria for assessing the potential of measures, interventions, tools to transfer/translate across contexts.

Outcomes

Cross-National Reports

Executive Summaries (national languages)

National Reports (in English)

Other output

18. Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology: 29. Aug.- 1. Sept. 2018, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina:
“9. Europäische Konferenz zur Gesundheitsförderung in Haft”: 20.-22.09.2017, Vienna, Austria

Meeting of the inter-disciplinary network “Psycho-Soziale Kommission”: 9. Oct. 2017, Vienna, Austria: Präsentation EPPIC Stummvoll