ABSTRACTS

Source #9
This study examined three postrelease outcomes (reincarceration, rearrest,
drug relapse) for inmates who participated in therapeutic community (TC) drug
treatment programs (n = 555) or comparison groups (n = 998) at five prisons. The
comparison group consisted of TC-eligible inmates participating in less intensive
programming at the same institutions. Control variables included drug
dependency, age, and criminal history. TC had a moderate, significant impact on
reducing the probability of reincarceration and did so in the absence of community
aftercare. Effects of TC on rearrest and drug relapse, however, were not
significant. Implications for research, theory, and practice are discussed.
Source # 4
Numerous scholars have described how the war on drugs has played a
central role in US penal change, especially its racialized impact. Yet there remain
aspects of this war that are under-explored in punishment and society
scholarship. This article delineates five distinct modes by which the
contemporary regulation of drugs in the USA speaks to penal change,and in so
doing suggests that its reach is much more diffuse, insidious, and variegated
than suggested by prevailing conceptualizations of the drug warpunishment
relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Source # 1
The high cost of incarceration and a general confidence in the
effectiveness of drug abuse treatment have led many states to adopt
community-based drug abuse treatment as part of, or as an
alternative to, incarceration. Community re-entry and aftercare have
therefore received increasing attention from both practitioners and
researchers. This article examines possibilities for encouraging change
in both adult and juvenile justice treatment. Four issues are
highlighted: (1) relapse and aftercare, (2) co-occurring disorder, (3)
juvenile justice programming, and (4) women is treatment. The
success of U.S. drug treatment policy depends on a capacity to resolve
these and related issues. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
Source # 2
People in the United States, though only five percent of the world's
population, consume two-thirds of the world's illegal drugs. People in the United
States, though only five percent of the world's population, incarcerate 25 percent
of the world's prisoners. It is no coincidence that of the 2.3 million inmates in
U.S. prisons, 65 percent--1.5 million--meet the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition) medical criteria for alcohol or other
drug abuse and addiction. Another 20 percent--458,000--even though they don't
meet the DSM-IV medical criteria for alcohol and other drug abuse and
addiction nevertheless were substance involved; i.e., were under the influence
of alcohol or other drugs at the time of their offense, stole money to buy drugs,
are substance abusers, violated the alcohol or drug laws, or share some
combination of these characteristics. This report, uncovers these troubling facts
and, even more disturbingly, finds that the situation has been getting worse
since The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at
Columbia University issued its first report on this subject, "Behind Bars", just
over a decade ago. This new report constitutes the most exhaustive analysis
ever undertaken to identify the extent to which alcohol and other drugs are
implicated in the crimes and incarceration of America's prison population. This
report, following more than a decade after CASA's initial analysis, finds that
despite greater recognition of the problem and potential solutions, this country
has allowed the population of substance-involved inmates crowding the prisons
and jails--and the related costs and crimes--to increase. This report sets out
steps the country can take to reduce crime and the taxpayer costs of prisons by
addressing treatment needs of offenders while holding them accountable for
their crimes. Appendices include: (1) Data Analysis Methodology; and (2)
Proposed Guidelines for Providing Addiction Treatment in Prisons and Jails.
(Contains 10 figures, 46 tables, and 456 notes.)
Source # 3
Longer term in-prison therapeutic community (ITC) outcome studies are
needed, along with more attention on who benefits most from these programs.
This study examined reincarceration records for 394 nonviolent offenders
during the 3 years following prison. Those who completed both ITC and
aftercare were the least likely to be reincarcerated (25%), compared to 64% of
the aftercare dropouts and 42% of the untreated comparison groups.
Furthermore, high-severity aftercare completers were reincarcerated only half as
often as those in the aftercare dropout and comparison groups (26% vs. 66%
and 52%). The findings support the effectiveness of intensive treatment when it
is integrated with aftercare, and the benefits are most apparent for offenders
with more serious crime and drug-related problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Source # 10
The study assessed 36-month recidivism outcomes for a prison
therapeutic community (TC) program with aftercare using an intent-to-treat
design with random assignment. Outcomes for 478 felons at 36 months
replicated findings of an earlier report on 12- and 24-month outcomes, showing
the best outcomes for those who completed both in-prison and aftercare TC
programs. At 36 months, 27% of the prison TC plus aftercare completers
recidivated, versus 75% for other groups. In addition, a significant positive
relationship was found between the amount of time spent in treatment and the
time until return for the parolees who recidivated. However, the reduced
recidivism rates for in-prison treatment found only at 12 and 24 months was not
maintained at 36 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]