NCJ Number
171845
Date Published
Unknown
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Drug-abusing offenders constitute a disproportionate number of inmates and recidivists; the use of therapeutic communities (TCs) to treat drug-dependent inmates has proven to be cost- effective.
Abstract
Compared with residential treatment programs in the community, the costs of operating prison-based TC treatment programs are modest. Depending on modality form, length of program participation, and intensity, the average program cost varies between $200 to $4,000 per year per offender beyond the ordinary cost of incarceration. Even though this increases the overall cost of incarceration, TC treatment is cost-effective, since it lowers crime and recidivism as well as associated social and criminal justice system costs. This cost-effectiveness analysis is based on data that show correctional treatment programs to have been effective in reducing posttreatment drug use (Wexler, Williams, Early, and Trotman, 1996; Anglin and McGlothlin, 1984; Bureau of Justice Assistance, 1988) and in reducing future criminal behavior. This has been true for both prison-based and community-based programs. Further, scarce resources require the development of correctional approaches that do not rely primarily on incarceration for the treatment of a growing offender population whose criminal behavior is associated with alcohol and drug abuse. 1 table and 71 references