NCJ Number
147462
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 37 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 351-358
Date Published
1993
Length
8 pages
Annotation
To determine if offenders who abuse alcohol and/or drugs differ in their characteristics from each other and from non- abusing offenders, 163 Canadian inmates were administered the Level of Supervision Inventory Classification System (LSI) and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R).
Abstract
The results supported previous research findings that nearly 77 percent of incarcerated inmates had abused alcohol and/or drugs and suggesting that correctional planners need to make substance abuse treatment programs available to inmates. Combined alcohol and drug users were the largest group of substance abusers, followed by drug abusers and alcohol abusers. Combined drug and alcohol abusers also had the highest scores on all items of the LSI and most items on the PCL-R. Substance abusing offenders may be considered as dual- diagnosed substance abuse and antisocial personality disorder, according to the DSM-III-R. Therefore, treatment programs should deal with other problems that derive from their dual diagnosis, including targeting the criminogenic needs of offenders, dealing with their propensity for crime, introducing them to appropriate ways of managing leisure time, enhancing family relationships, teaching them to better control their behavior, and reducing their impulsivity. 1 table and 31 references