A prison as a place of therapy for people addicted to alcohol

In Polish prisons, people addicted to alcohol are imprisoned in the therapeutic system. This means that the convicted person is referred by the court to the penitentiary institution where he should be treated. A prison is often the first place where the inmate receives the treatment. Among the convicted addicts there are also people who living in an open environment, attempted treatment, but it was ineffective. Undergoing therapy is perceived as coercion, but people working with addicts indicate that this obligation is necessary in the case of convicts, who are often unaware of the effects of addiction. They belittle the fact that they committed a crime under the influence of alcohol or being addicted and try to reduce their guilt. The aim of the work will be to show the specificity of the convict as an addicted person staying in a prison. The possibilities and barriers to the use of therapy will be presented, resulting from legal grounds, organizational problems of Polish prisons, but also the reluctance of the convicts to undertake treatment. The results of research showing the effectiveness of therapy in the penitentiary unit will be presented.