Quasi-Compulsory Treatment of Drug Dependent Offenders: An International Literature Review

• NCJ Number: 209073
• Journal: Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 40 Issue: 3 Dated: 2005 Pages: 269-283
• Author(s): Alex Stevens; Daniele Berto; Wolfgang Heckmann; Viktoria Kerschi; Kerralie Oeuvray; Marianne Van Ooyen; Elfriede Steffan; Ambros Uchtenhagen
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper reports on a review of the literature on the quasi-compulsory treatment (QCT) of drug dependent offenders in five languages and uses this review to highlight areas of difference between findings from these non-English speaking countries, as well as the prevalent view of QCT in the English speaking world.

Abstract

Quasi-compulsory treatment (QCT) is the treatment of drug-dependent offenders that is motivated, ordered, or supervised by the criminal justice system and takes place outside regular prison. Since the early 1990's, there have been several evaluations of QCT programs published in English. However, there are many QCT systems in place in non-English speaking countries. This paper reports on a review of the literature on the QCT of drug-dependent offenders in five languages: English, German, French, Italian, and Dutch. The reviews in German, French, Italian, and Dutch were compared to reviews of the English literature. Common points found were the consistent correlation of dependent drug use and criminal behavior, and the existence of studies that show that coerced treatment can have a similar outcome to voluntary treatment. Future research was strongly recommended on the nature of motivation and coercion in QCT and their role in affecting treatment engagement, retention, and outcome. References