Effect of Drug Treatment During Work Release on New Arrests and Incarcerations

• NCJ Number: 216680
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 34 Issue: 5 Dated: September-October 2006 Pages: 557-565
• Author(s): Clifford A. Butzin; Daniel J. O'Connell; Steven S. Martin; James A. Inciardi
• Date Published: September 2006
• Length: 9 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA06124; DA06948
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A total of 1,247 drug-involved inmates from the Delaware correctional system were followed for up to 5 years after release in order to compare those who participated in a work release therapeutic community (TC) treatment program with a similar group that participated in regular work release.

Abstract

Participants in a work release TC treatment program during the transitional period between prison and the community were significantly less likely to have had a new arrest or to have returned to incarceration; and they had significantly longer times before arrest or returning to custody, even when controlling for demographic differences and differences in drug-use, employment, and criminal histories. The time before arrest was more than 50 percent longer than for those without treatment. Those with a more extensive criminal history showed particular benefits from the treatment program. Older offenders showed the most benefit from an aftercare component of work-release treatment. Both the regular work release and the work release TC were 6-month programs that included both men and women with separate secured evening quarters. In regular work release, inmates were released during the day and required to return to the dormitories each evening. The TC consisted of a "family setting" of individual chores, group responsibilities, and discipline. In addition to intensive therapeutic community treatment, clients prepared for and obtained employment in the community. The study sample was drawn from inmates classified in the Delaware correctional system as approved for work release with a recommendation for drug treatment between 1991 and 1998. The research protocol included baseline and multiple follow-up interviews, with urine testing at each interview. The most relevant items in the interviews pertained to the time to new arrest and the time to any return to custody. 3 tables and 35 references