NCJ Number
227419
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 48 Issue: 4 Dated: May-June 2009 Pages: 336-349
Date Published
May 2009
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examined participant historical factors (socio-demographic, legal, and substance use) associated with failure to complete substance abuse treatment among African-Americans in drug treatment court.
Abstract
Results indicated similar rates of substance abuse treatment completion of African-American and Caucasian participants in a drug treatment court. African-Americans in the sample, however, presented with a different set of historical concerns (unemployment, greater likelihood of prior criminal justice involvement, and possibly a greater prevalence of cocaine use disorders) which likely warrant specific services or modification of supervisory conditions. Vocational skills assessment and job placement services, mental health assessments and appropriate follow-up, and access to therapies shown to achieve positive outcomes in cocaine use disorders or contingency management, constitute services of likely importance in this subpopulation. Culturally sensitive case management and outreach with same-ethnicity staff may be important considerations for a population which may have reason to believe that the system has not treated them fairly in the past. Data were collected from a single drug treatment court in a Midwestern State from 1996 to 2004. Tables, figure, and references