NCJ Number
187508
Journal
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs Volume: 32 Issue: 4 Dated: October-December 2000 Pages: 391-397
Date Published
2000
Length
7 pages
Annotation
In focusing on criminal drug users and their changing behavior, this article presents an overview of drug use, including a brief historical perspective on drug treatment and a discussion of the implications of drug-related crime, and examines the need for drug abuse treatment in the criminal population.
Abstract
The literature points out that alcohol and other drugs have a multiplying effect on crime. For example, in addition to the cost of monitoring illicit drug movement, significant tax dollars are being spent to build and maintain prisons. Studies estimate that the population of inmates needing treatment has grown significantly. Moreover, studies show that criminal behavior often precedes drug use, that risk factors for drug use include other co-morbid conditions such as depression and conduct disorder, and that varied factors contribute to criminality and play a role in combined crime and drug use. Treatment approaches used with drug-abusing criminogenic populations are described, as well as the efficacy of criminal sanctions versus treatment and the importance of behavioral methods in treatment. Additional research is recommended to assess the value of therapeutic communities and aftercare, models that can demonstrate equivalent outcomes to therapeutic communities, the use of mutual attraction models in conjunction with the therapeutic community process, and length of treatment necessary to achieve optimum results. 12 references and 1 note