NCJ Number
238864
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 40 Issue: 3 Dated: May/June 2012 Pages: 165-173
Date Published
June 2012
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study developed a "criminal justice epidemiology" by examining the behavioral health (e.g., drug use and dependence, driving under the influence, risk perception, and treatment experiences) and physical health (e.g., asthma, heart disease, and diabetes) of probationers and parolees derived from a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States.
Abstract
After controlling for the effects of age, gender, race, income, and education, probationers and parolees were more likely to report using alcohol and drugs in the past year, having reduced risk perception, and having had some kind of treatment for substance abuse or dependence compared to persons in the sample not on probation or parole. In addition, they were significantly more likely to experience anxiety and depression, asthma, and sexually transmitted diseases. The study concludes that the behavioral health of probationers and parolees impedes efforts to increase public safety goals. It recommends building closer ties between the criminal justice and public health systems in order to address this situation. This study is based on data from the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), which is designed to provide population estimates of substance use and health-related behaviors in the U.S. general population. It uses multistage area probability sampling methods in selecting a representative sample of the U.S. civilian, non-institutionalized population ages 12 years old or older. A total of 68,236 respondents completed the 2009 survey. 4 tables and 46 references