JAILS AND DRUG TREATMENT

• NCJ Number: 39390
• Author(s): C L NEWMAN; B R PRICE
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 224 pages
• Grant Number(s): 75-NI-99-0022
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

REPORT ON THE RESULTS OF A 1975 SURVEY OF THE RANGE AND VARIETY OF SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR DRUG ABUSING INMATES AT A NATIONAL SAMPLE OF 118 LOCAL JAILS.

Abstract

SERVICES SURVEYED INCLUDED ALL THOSE FROM WHICH DRUG ABUSERS WERE NOT EXCLUDED. EMPHASIZED WERE JAIL SCREENING STRATEGIES FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF DRUG ABUSERS AND THEIR NEEDS; DETOXIFICATION AND MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS; GENERAL SOCIAL SERVICES INCLUDING REFERRALS, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING. DATA ARE ALSO PROVIDED ON ORGANIZATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR SERVICES DELIVERY SYSTEMS IN JAILS, SERVICE DELIVERY CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT, AND JAIL OPERATION. ONE OF THE MAJOR FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY WAS THAT DRUG TREATMENT NEEDS OF INMATES AND THE ASSOCIATED PRESSURES FOR SERVICE HAVE PROVIDED A STRONG IMPETUS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AND INNOVATIVE ORGANIZATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS BETWEEN JAILS AND COMMUNITY HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS AND GOVERNMENT. FOUR ORGANIZATIONAL INTERACTION SYSTEMS WERE IDENTIFIED: INTERNAL, INTERSECTION, LINKAGE, AND COMBINATION. FOR MOST JAILS, RESULTS REVEALED, IT IS DESIRABLE TO INITIATE SRVICES EITHER WHICH REQUIRE VERY BRIEF PERIODS OF TIME FOR RESULTS, OR WHICH ALLOW FOR CONTINUITY AND COMPLETION OF SERVICE IN THE COMMUNITY UPON RELEASE. IT WAS ALSO FOUND THAT, ALTHOUGH INMATES ARRIVE AT THE JAIL AT ALL TIMES, DAY AND NIGHT, SCREENING ACTIVITIES ARE MOST OFTEN PROVIDED ONLY DURING THE STANDARD WORK WEEK. EIGHTY PERCENT OF THE JAILS SURVEYED PROVIDED DETOXIFICATION SERVICES. APPROXIMATELY 75 PERCENT PROVIDED SOCIAL SERVICES IN SOME FORM, ALTHOUGH FEW PROVIDED A FULL RANGE OF SERVICES OR REGULAR SERVICES TO ALL INMATES AND NO RELATIONSHIP WAS FOUND BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF INMATE NEEDS AND THE PROVISION OF SERVICES. PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES WERE SHOWN TO BE THE LEAST PREVALENT COMPONENT OF THE JAIL SERVICES AVAILABLE TO DRUG-ABUSING INMATES. ONLY ONE-THIRD OF THE JAILS STUDIED REPORTED ANY PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING PROGRAMS AT ALL; LESS THAN HALF OF THESE PROGRAMS FOCUSED ON DRUG PROGRAMS. APPENDED MATERIALS INCLUDE A DISCUSSION OF THE SURVEY METHODOLOGY, A SUBJECT INDEX, AND A SIX-PAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY.