Lifting the Cover on Drug Courts: Evaluation Findings and Policy Concerns

• NCJ Number: 209819
• Journal: International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 49 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2005 Pages: 239-259
• Author(s): J. Scott Sanford; Bruce A. Arrigo
• Date Published: June 2005
• Length: 21 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation; Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article reports on a literature review of drug court evaluations and other relevant publications on the procedures and outcomes of drug courts in the United States.

Abstract

The authors first consider the nature and extent of drug-court evaluation limitations and deficiencies. Findings from the literature are then categorized and discussed in terms of nonsupportive, mixed, or problematic drug court effects; and favorable drug court effects. More detailed discussions address recidivism findings in the context of comparison groups, Federal reviews and their inability to reach conclusions, key components and agents of the drug court system, the role of the court and the drug court management team, external factors that directly and indirectly influence drug court operations, drug court links to corrections, and drug court links to juvenile justice. The authors conclude that based on empirical evaluation findings, drug treatment courts have been successful in lowering recidivism rates among drug offenders, despite problematic methodological and analytical flaws. The literature indicates that judicial discretion and the nonadversarial approach to offenders by the drug court management team are the most influential characteristics of the drug court model. The drug court process also impacts law enforcement, corrections, and the overall court system through reciprocal relationships. A discussion of policy implications suggests that the existence of drug courts in a policy and judicial environment dominated by strict sentencing laws and "get tough" attitudes may undermine support and cooperation with drug courts by the community and other components of the criminal justice system. Although problematic, the future of drug courts may be helped by implementing restorative justice concepts, which would require the adaptation of existing processes and possibly changes in the basic drug court model. 43 references