Gender-Specific Factors Associated with Community Substance Abuse Treatment Utilization Among Incarcerated Substance Users

• NCJ Number: 227892
• Journal: International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 53 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2009 Pages: 401-419
• Author(s): Michele Staton-Tindall; Jennifer R. Havens; Carrie B. Oser; Michael Prendergast; Carl Leukefeld
• Date Published: August 2009
• Length: 19 pages
• Grant Number(s): U01 DA16205
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institutes of Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined differences among demographic, substance use, mental health and health, and criminality factors as related to substance abuse treatment history for male and female prison-based treatment participants, and explored the independent correlates of treatment utilization by gender using a multivariate approach.

Abstract

Study findings indicate that males with a history of treatment utilization were more likely to be older, to have used crack, and to have had a greater number of arrests, and they were less likely to be arrested for a violent charge. In comparison, females with previous treatment were more likely to have been hospitalized for a health condition and were significantly more likely to have lived with someone else before prison rather than in their own home. These results suggest that factors associated with preincarceration treatment utilization differ by gender, which might have important implications for correctional-based treatment assessment, reentry planning, and transitional case management. With the increased number of offenders with substance abuse problems, there was increasing concern to understand ways to improve treatment opportunities for offenders in institutional settings and during the transition to the community. An important step in this process was to understand factors associated with offender community treatment utilization before being incarcerated. Following a review of the literature, this study sought to describe differences in demographics, substance use, mental health and health, and criminality factors between male and female offenders with prior community substance abuse treatment and those with no treatment history, and to examine the independent correlates of prior substance abuse treatment utilization by gender in a multivariate model. Tables and references