Preventing Relapse in Incarcerated Drug Users in Yunnan Province, China

• NCJ Number: 229183
• Journal: Drug and Alcohol Review Volume: 28 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2009 Pages: 641-647
• Author(s): Wei Xing Zhu; Jia Qiang Dong; Therese Hesketh
• Date Published: November 2009
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

Based on interviews with 235 men and 125 women (ages 15-64) who had been injecting heroin for between 3 months and 25 years in China, this study identified factors that might prevent relapse following release from compulsory incarceration in detoxification centers.

Abstract

The study participants identified three factors they believed could assist in preventing their relapse into injecting heroin after release from compulsory incarceration in detoxification centers (the primary response to drug use in China). First, conditions and interventions in detoxification centers do little to prepare residents for drug-free living after their release. The respondents advocate a less punitive approach, better living conditions, and the cultivation of positive staff attitudes toward residents in detoxification centers, combined with counseling programs that include an emphasis on coping strategies for avoiding relapse after release. This would be a radical departure from how drug detoxification centers are currently operated. Second, respondents recommended that their families be provided with support and guidance in helping the released drug user resist relapse into drug use immediately after release. They cited the first month after release as the most vulnerable time for relapse. Such family support and guidance could begin during the detoxification period, so the family would be prepared to offer needed support immediately after release. Third, the respondents recommend the provision of assistance in helping those released from detoxification centers to avoid being drawn back into their drug-using social networks, even to the point of assisting in relocation to another community. Researchers engaged respondents in semistructured interviews at three compulsory detoxification centers in Derhong prefecture, Yunnan Province, which has the highest proportion of injecting drugs users in China. Respondents' median number of times for previous compulsory detoxification was 4, with 11 percent having undergone detoxification more than 10 times. 3 tables and 27 references