NCJ Number
230325
Journal
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis Volume: 41 Issue: 4 Dated: Winter 2008 Pages: 565-577
Date Published
2008
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study evaluated the effectiveness trial of a contingency management (CM) program delivered in the context of a felony preadjudication drug court.
Abstract
Results of the study indicate that the addition of a contingency management (CM) program did not improve outcomes for participants as a whole in a felony preadjudication drug court, which appeared to be attributable to a ceiling effect from the intensive services and contingencies already being delivered in the program and possibly to the relatively low density of reinforcement in the CM conditions. Further research was recommended to follow-up on this potential interaction effect and to begin studying how contingencies are naturally applied within drug court programs. Drug courts are special criminal court dockets, which provide a judicially supervised regimen of drug abuse treatment and other needed services for nonviolent drug-abusing offenders. In practice, drug courts tend to rely more on negative reinforcement or aversive control than on positive reinforcement for promoting behavior change. The most commonly administered reinforcers involve reductions in participants’ treatment or supervisory obligations. This study examined whether outcomes in drug court would be improved by augmenting the material reinforcers that were available to participants for accomplishments in the program. Tables, figures, and references