engleski

THE DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE PSYCHOSOCIAL TREATMENT PROGRAM FOR GAMBLING ADDICTS IN PRISONS AND PROBATION

Criminal offenders are a risk group for different types of addiction. Scientific literature and practice confirm that the prevalence of gambling disorder among the antisocial population is higher compared to the general population, while the context of providing interventions differs significantly. The Croatian Criminal Code prescribes the possibility for criminal judges to impose obligatory treatment of addiction (including gambling disorder) either as a special obligation measure or as a security measure. Since the Croatian justice system did not have a specific treatment program for this population, the Croatian Ministry of Justice initiated a project that would address this gap. A group of researchers and practitioners in the field of psychosocial sciences conducted a 3.5-year project with the aim of developing a specific treatment intervention for adult criminal offenders who are incarcerated or placed on probation. In the first year, extensive training of professionals within the justice system was conducted, while the second year of the project was dedicated to creating an integrative group psychosocial treatment intervention specifically for criminal offenders with gambling disorder. In the third year, the program was implemented in three prisons/penitentiaries, evaluated, and modified based on the evaluation results. The purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview of all project activities, the structure of the program as well the results of the process and outcome evaluation on a sample of N=27 prisoners. Future initiatives are to ensure national dissemination of the program in all Croatian prisons/penitentiaries, as well as probation services.

gambling, prison, penitentiary, gambling disorder, treatment, addiction

nije evidentirano