People who get into crime as a result of alcohol problems are being given an alternative to prison in a new experimental scheme based in Co Roscommon. Harristown House, only yards from the forbidding walls of Castlerea Prison, is the first centre of its kind in the State.
Funded by the Department of Justice, it gives judges in the west the option of sending offenders to a residential rehabilitation centre rather than to prison.
It opened in November and 24 men have now completed the centre's six-week programme, which is based on a self-help model. Offenders with a propensity for extreme violence or who suffer from a mental illness are not accepted, but others found guilty of assault, malicious damage, larceny or disorderly behaviour are.
The only criteria are that their crimes are directly or indirectly a result of alcohol problems and that they are willing to change. Run by the Probation and Welfare Service, it was set up after an examination of the causes of crime. The director, Margaret Prendergast, who has worked as a probation officer for 14 years, said she would "safely guess" that alcohol was a factor in 90 per cent of the cases she has dealt with. Demand for places at the centre is very high. The senior probation officer for Harristown House, John O'Shaughnessy, said judges throughout the region were making use of the centre.
If the programme proves a success, the intention is to set up units of its kind all over the State. Mr O'Shaughnessy said the ultimate aim of the programme was to enable participants to live more positive lives, free from crime.
Statistics had indicated that the chances of people like those at Harristown House reoffending after prison were high. "There is little point in just locking people behind closed doors. If you can deal with them in the community, there is a benefit not only to the client but to society in general," he said.
There is an emphasis on involving the local community in the running of Harristown House. A 14-member voluntary management committee includes local business people, a court officer, a county councillor, a garda and a judge. Mr O'Shaughnessy praised the people of Castlerea for their acceptance of the project. The house can cater for 12 men at a time. They are generally confined to the centre and its grounds for the duration of the programme, apart from one trip home.
Weekdays are taken up with group therapy meetings, lectures, workshops and counselling. An addiction counsellor is employed full time. In keeping with the self-help approach, the men are required to clean the house and to cook for themselves at weekends.
Ms Prendergast admits her task is challenging, as the programme encourages the men to face up to what they have been doing and the problems they have caused for others as well as themselves.
There is also an emphasis on involving the close relatives of each participant, and a number of family days are held during the six weeks. Not surprisingly, these days are very emotional for everybody involved.
"It means the residents are confronted by their behaviour. They can't say then that they were fine at home. It is not about blaming them, but letting them know what they have been at is one of the critical things in the process of moving on. They have to be confronted with it," she said.
The programme is based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, and the participants, who have ranged in age from 18 to 70-plus, must arrive at the centre drink- and drugs-free. Even sleeping tablets are not permitted. The causes of alcoholism are complex, but one interesting statistic to have emerged already from Harristown House is that of the 24 participants at least 14 came from homes where there was a problem of alcohol abuse. Ms Prendergast said the figure could even be higher because it was difficult to establish the early family history of some of the older men.
In terms of results, she accepts that six weeks is a short time in which to change someone's behaviour. There is, however, an aftercare programme and the men have to come back at least once a month. AA volunteers visit the centre every week and the men are encouraged to attend AA meetings in their home areas. After completing the course, each participant has to appear again before the courts, and a full report is submitted. If the programme has proved a success, he can be placed under the supervision of the local probation and welfare officer.