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Prison-based substance use treatment program engagement and criminal recidivism: a survival analysis
Blue, Thomas Robert
Blue, Thomas Robert
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Date
2017
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Abstract
Substance abuse is a large problem within the U.S. criminal justice system. As many as two- thirds of offenders abuse drugs or alcohol and almost half used drugs or alcohol at the time of their offence. There is a clear connection between drug use and criminality and recent studies suggest that this relationship is bidirectional. Given that the overwhelming majority of prisoners will be released at some point, relapse to drug use and subsequent criminal recidivism is a serious concern for society and the criminal justice system. One way criminal recidivism might be reduced is by treating the substance abuse problem and reducing post-release drug use resulting in decreased criminality. The current study uses a Cox proportional hazards regression model to examine the relationship between treatment engagement, a known predictor of success in treatment, and criminal recidivism in a sample of prisoners released from facilities in Texas. The effects of a decision-making training during incarceration, WaySafe, before release back into the community was also examined as well as the interaction between WaySafe and engagement. Other known predictors, namely criminal history and criminal thinking, were controlled for in the model. The results revealed significant effects of sex, age, criminal history, and power orientation (a component of criminal thinking) on the likelihood of felony rearrest at any given time. The main effect of treatment engagement failed to reach significance; however, there was a marginally significant interaction between WaySafe participation and engagement. Implications of the results, study limitations, and how those limitations might be addressed in future research are discussed.
Contents
Subject
Subject(s)
Prisoners Substance use.
Substance abuse Treatment.
Criminals Rehabilitation.
Recidivism.
Substance abuse Treatment.
Criminals Rehabilitation.
Recidivism.
Research Projects
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Journal Issue
Genre
Dissertation
Description
Format
1 online resource (vi, 54 pages) :
Department
Psychology