NCJ Number
171835
Date Published
1997
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the Phoenix House's approach (therapeutic community) to drug treatment for drug offenders and drug-abusing offenders.
Abstract
At the outset, the author makes three points about drugs and the criminal justice system. First, the purpose of law enforcement should not be to lock up otherwise law-abiding drug users. Second, drug abuse does not excuse criminal behavior, and treatment should not provide a means for offenders deserving of punishment to evade it. Third, prisons are not the best, and far from the least expensive, venues for drug treatment. The criminal justice system and drug treatment providers must work together, because half of all suspects arrested for felonies test positive for drugs nationally, and the great majority of inmates have serious drug problems. Drug treatment providers and criminal justice practitioners both have the same goal, i.e., to reduce recidivism in both drug abuse and criminal offending. The therapeutic community (TC), as practiced by Phoenix House based in New York, has proven to be effective in reducing recidivism significantly beyond that achieved when drug treatment is not provided. Following a description of TC, the author advises that to get full value from TC treatment, the TC should be separated from the general prison population. Also, aftercare is an important element of the treatment regime. The Phoenix House program has shown that offenders who enter TC treatment under duress are no less successful than those who enter voluntarily.