Magnus Israelsson

Compulsory Commitment to Care of Substance Misusers: International Trends during 25 Years

Purpose: The study explores international trends in law on compulsory commitment to care of substance misusers (CCC), and two subtypes – civil CCC and CCC within criminal justice legislation – as well as maximum length and amount of applications of such care. Method: The time period covers more than 25 years, and a total of 104 countries and territories. The study is based on available data in three times of observation (1986, 1999 and 2009). Applications of CCC in number of cases are studied on European level for the years 2002–2006. Trends are analyzed using nonparametric tests and general linear models for repeated measures. Findings are discussed from contextual analysis. Result: There is a trend towards decrease in the number of countries worldwide having civil CCC legislation after the millennium, while CCC under criminal law has increased since the mid-1980s, resulting in some total net decrease. The shift results in longer mean duration of CCC and an increase in the number of cases sentenced. Conclusion: There is a risk that the shift from civil CCC to penal CCC implies more focus on young out-acting males in compulsory treatment and that the societal responsibility for more vulnerable persons might be neglected.

Welfare, Temperance and Compulsory Commitment to Care for Persons with Substance Misuse Problems: A Comparative Study of 38 European Countries

Aims: The study explores the existence and types of law on compulsory commitment to care (CCC) of adult substance misusers in Europe and how such laws are related to variations in demographics, alcohol consumption and epidemiology in misuse of opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, temperance culture heritage, health and welfare expenditure, and involvement and role of the state in welfare distribution. Material and Methods: Legal information on laws on CCC of misusers was obtained primarily through a survey of 38 European countries. Predictors of laws on CCC, and types of such, were analyzed from country descriptors in multivariate models. Results: A majority (74%) of the explored countries have a law concerning CCC. The most common type of CCC law is within criminal justice legislation (45%), but civil CCC is almost as frequent (37%). These two models of CCC legislation are related to differences in cultural heritage and welfare distribution models. Conclusions: Temperance cultures, i.e. countries with a history of a strong temperance movement, and countries with a Beveridgean distribution of welfare, i.e. through the state, tend to favor civil CCC, while countries with a Bismarckian distribution of welfare, i.e. through insurance with less state interference, tend to favor CCC within criminal justice legislation.

Compulsory Commitment to Care of Substance Misusers : A Worldwide Comparative Analysis of the Legislation

This study explores the worldwide use of compulsory commitment to care (CCC) at the end of the 20 th century and evaluates the implementation of WHO recommendations since the 1960s. Based on three WHO reports, the legislation of 90 countries and territories are analyzed, and types as well as predictors of such legislation are analyzed in multivariate models from country characteristics. Laws on CCC for alcohol and drug misusers are common all over the world; more than 80 percent of the countries and territories studied have such laws. The majority use civil commitment - acute or rehabilitative - in accordance with welfare logic, while a large minority still uses commitment under criminal law, based on a moral logic. Civil CCC is positively related to strong economies or having been part of the Soviet legal system. CCC under criminal law is negatively related to the same factors.

Child protection and cultural awareness: Simulation-based learning

ABSTRACT Social work educators have long struggled with the challenge of finding appropriate strategies for fostering cultural awareness among their students. The purpose of this study is to illustrate how a computer-based simulation, SimChild, can be used in teaching about child protection to enhance cultural awareness among students and expand their insight into how personal biases can affect professional practice. In SimChild, individual students can assume the role of social worker and then collectively discuss the patterns emerging after their individual assessments have been aggregated. This study, based primarily on focus group data, reflects testing conducted at three Swedish universities.