Drug Prevention and the Police in the UK: A review of recent research studies

Abstract

There is increasing concern among British police forces about their role in drug prevention in schools. This paper reviews drug prevention research in the US, Australia and the UK in order to compare and contrast prevention policy and practice within schools internationally and to consider which approach would be most effective and appropriate for the UK. The paper focuses on prevention rather than education because of the current emphasis on prevention in British policy. The paper raises questions that need careful consideration before drug prevention policies are introduced in the UK. First, there is a need to determine whether schools should be concerned predominantly with programmes of drug prevention or harm minimisation, as it is in the disciission of these concepts that the reasons (and aims) for any programme will be articulated. It is then necessay to identify the most effective programme content and most appropriate providers, and to gather information regarding target audiences. The early indications from research findings are that general interactive skills-based programmes are more useful than the more directive and didactic police-led initiatives; that these should be integrated within the established school curriculum and that trained teachers may therefore be the most appropriate professionals to take the lead. However there is international consensus concerning the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach, emphasising the partnership between teachers, police and parents and stressing the importance of community involvement in the development of any school-based programme. The limitations of present research are identified; there are constraints on evaliratiori and there are few of the longitudinal studies necessary for measuring change over time. It has been difficult to distinguish between the effects of police input and the police programmes themselves. Although evaluative studies identify increases in knowledge, they have riot yet demonstrated any significant immediate, or long term, changes in either attitudes or behaviour.