The social exclusion of Swedish drug users

What happened to the ‘first generation’ of drug Swedish users? In this Swedish language article <b>Susanne Alm</b> documents the social exclusion of drug users in Swedish society using a large data set of persons born in Stockholm in 1953 (Stockholm Birth Cohort Study). Very few of those with drug problems in their youth were able to establish a firm position in society in the long run. The article is followed by three commentaries in Swedish and Norwegian by Jessica Storbjörk, Edle Ravndal and Heini Kainulainen.

Prisoners’ experiences of drug treatment and punishment in four Nordic countries

Based on 91 qualitative interviews and 6 months of observations in 12 prisons, in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, the authors study how prisoners experience drug treatment, control and sanctions. Hedda Giertsen, Per-Åke Nylander, Vibeke Asmussen Frank, Torsten Kolind and Jouni Tourunen found that staff relations are regarded as more important than treatment methods, while controls and sanctions are seen as a part of everyday life in prison.

The Bench: An open drug scene and its people

Based on a year of participant observation this article describes life in an open illicit drug milieu in a Norwegian city. Trond Erik Grønnestad and Philip Lalander found that frequenting this stigmatized place with its everyday rituals is an expression of the need for dignity and human understanding among people who are regarded as urban outcasts.

Prevention of alcohol and drug misuse in adolescents: An overview of systematic reviews

Elke Emmers, Geertruida Elsiena Bekkering and Karin Hannes present an overview of recent systematic reviews, summarising the evidence on the effectiveness of prevention strategies that target substance misusing adolescents. There is a small but consistent positive effect of school-based prevention programmes.

Social work assessment of underage alcohol consumption in Sweden and Italy

In this cross-national focus group study Paolo Guidi and Matteo Di Placido ask thirty-five social workers employed in public social services in Stockholm, Malmö (Sweden), and Genoa (Italy) to assess and discuss a vignette story of underage alcohol consumption. The authors found that Italian social workers are in general more concerned and interventionist than are their Swedish colleagues who view teenage alcohol consumption as common behaviour.