Comparison of Criminal Justice and Non-Criminal Justice Related Patients in a Methadone Treatment Program (From Proceedings of the Fifth National Conference on Methadone Treatment, Volume 1, P 116-122, 1975.)

• NCJ Number: 155043
• Author(s): W F Wieland; J L Novack
• Date Published: 1975
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

This study compared criminal justice case and non-criminal justice cases in a methadone treatment program, based partially on a model which utilized various factors to predict patients' type and degree of disturbance and the motivation for treatment.

Abstract

Data were collected on 261 patients admitted to two methadone treatment clinics supported by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration in Philadelphia. One hundred forty-one patients were under probation or parole or had criminal charges pending; the remaining 120 patients were non-criminal justice cases. Fitting the available data to the model used here, the criminal justice cases were slightly more disturbed and had a slightly worse outcome, measured by urine tests, retention rates, and employment, than non- criminal justice cases. There was little difference between the two groups in terms of sex, age, and race. The results are inconclusive regarding the efficacy of mild to moderate criminal justice pressure under the conditions of this study.