U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Criminal Justice System and Alcohol Rehabilitation - A Pilot Evaluation Study

NCJ Number
101299
Journal
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology Volume: 18 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1985) Pages: 206-214
Author(s)
D I Smith
Date Published
1985
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This re-analysis of an evaluation of the Serenity Lodge (SL) alcohol rehabilitation program (Rockingham, Western Australia) focuses on that subsample of 43 treatment and 25 control subjects who had contact with police in the month prior to program entry.
Abstract
The SL program is a residential approach, combining Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), work, and reality therapy. In the original study, alcohol consumption and other outcome variables were compared for 137 Australian males in the SL program during 1979-80 and a matched sample of 173 males in a hospital detoxification program. As did the total treatment sample, the subsample in the SL program showed significantly greater abstinence from alcohol consumption during a 15-month followup than did controls (53.1 percent versus 0 percent). In addition, the treatment subgroup spent significantly less money on alcohol and had significantly fewer convictions for drunkenness and disorderly conduct. There were also indications that the SL program was effective in promoting employment, reducing social problems, and encouraging continued attendance at AA meetings. 17 references.