Drug Treatment and Criminality - Methodological and Theoretical Considerations (From Drugs-Crime Connection, P 183-206, 1981, James A Inciardi, ed. - See NCJ-79108)

• NCJ Number: 79116
• Author(s): C E Faupel
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Studies evaluating the effectiveness of methadone maintenance programs and therapeutic communities in reducing criminality among drug abusers are reviewed, with emphasis on methodological and theoretical considerations.

Abstract

The literature focuses primarily on methadone maintenance and is characterized both by methodological limitations which result in inadequate data and by a lack of theoretical explanations for treatment effectiveness. The majority of the 48 empirical studies that deal specifically with post-treatment criminal behavior focus largely or totally on methadone maintenance. The studies have drawn mixed conclusions regarding methadone maintenance's effectiveness, although most report at least moderate success with regard to reduced criminality. These main methodological problems are the reliance on official records for establishing a reduction in criminality, the variations in time frames used to establish baseline and post-treatment arrest rates, and the failure to include control data on nontreatment drug users. Although only 5 of the 48 studies focus on the effectiveness of therapeutic communities, the studies generally observe a strong positive relationship between residential treatment and reduced criminality. Although these studies more consistently report positive results than do methadone studies, they suffer from similar methodological limitations. In addition, underlying theoretical questions relating to the reasons for the programs' effectiveness have not been explored. The process of leading addicts to a conventional lifestyle through the use of therapeutic communities may viewed as involving mechanisms of commitment and social and psychological processes which result in a change in an individual's motivational structure. Future research on the effectiveness of drug treatment should use self report data, longer pretreatment and post-treatment time periods, comparison samples, and theoretical explorations. Notes, a bibliography of empirical studies, and a list of 28 references are provided.