title: How drug policy should (not) be: institutionalised young people's perspectives.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Drug prevention is insufficiently tailored to the needs of vulnerable groups and often concentrates on the general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A qualitative youth-centred design, based on group techniques was used to ask vulnerable young people about their needs and expectations regarding drug prevention practices. Participants comprised 160 young people, aged 12-21 years who had emotional and behavioural disorders and who lived in institutions in the mental health care system in Flanders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings showed that common prevention and education practices are often insufficient or not applicable to the participants' situation. The young people criticised the institutions' reaction to drug use because it tried to control and sanction their use and paid scant attention to their reasons for drug use. They also held negative views about drug treatment. Their experiences had taught them that control and sanctioning were the dominant reactions to drug use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  If drug (prevention) policy is to appeal to vulnerable young people, their views on what would make a good prevention policy must be taken into account.
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Universiteitstraat 4, B-9000 Gent, Belgium. freya.vanderlaenen@ugent.be
authors.forename: Freya
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vander Laenen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000299:Adolescent, Institutionalized / Q000523:psychology*; D001530:Belgium; D002648:Child; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D033161:Government Regulation; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services; D010465:Perception; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012919:Social Behavior; D012931:Social Environment; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult