NCJ Number
175214
Date Published
1997
Length
60 pages
Annotation
Substance abusers who are under criminal justice system supervision have a range of psychosocial problems that often contribute to their criminal involvement, and an estimated 7 percent of jail inmates and 3 to 11 percent of prisoners have co- occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders.
Abstract
One of the major challenges in designing screening and assessment approaches, treatment interventions, and supervision strategies for offenders with co-occurring disorders involves the diversity of the population. This diversity is reflected in the choice of primary drugs, the etiology and history of the disorders and related treatment, symptoms and interactive effects of the disorders, history of criminal justice involvement and violent behavior, level of impairment in psychosocial functioning, and level of social support. The presence of co- occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders indicates a poor prognosis for involvement in treatment. Further, the accurate assessment of co-occurring disorders is difficult and coordinated mental health and substance abuse services in jails and community corrections are lacking. Specific strategies are described for screening, assessment, and treating co-occurring disorders and for providing supervision and case management. The strategies recognize offenders with co-occurring disorders are at higher risk for a range of problem behaviors and criminal recidivism and the need for integrated treatment services. 94 references