Research Summary: Study randomly assigned 235 offenders to drug treatment court (DTC) or “treatment as usual.” Analyses of official records collected over a two-year follow-up period show that DTC is reducing crime in a population of drug-addicted offenders. DTC subjects who participated in treatment were significantly less likely to recidivate than were both untreated drug court subjects and control subjects.

Policy Implications: Continued enthusiasm for DTCs is warranted. Both sanctions and treatment are important elements of the DTC model. However, DTCs will not necessarily result in cost reductions because DTC and control cases are incarcerated for approximately equal numbers of days. Implementation fidelity is important, and DTCs can be strengthened if they engage a higher percentage of their clients in drug treatment.

Effectiveness of drug treatment courts: evidence from a randomized trial*

The idea of a reentry court for ex-convicts returning to the community is an important new idea, but the premise behind it is rather familiar. Most of the models developed for reentry courts are based on what former Attorney General Janet Reno referred to as a “carrot and stick” philosophy, mixing heightened surveillance with additional treatment and other resources. In this paper, we briefly review the empirical and theoretical evidence in favor of this approach. We argue that an emerging policy narrative -- which we refer to as “strengths-based” -- holds considerable promise as an alternative or an addition to traditional talk of carrots and sticks. We describe a variety of strengths -based practices in corrections and drug addiction treatment and consider the psychological theory and research in support of this new narrative. Finally, we describe how a strengths-based reentry court would differ from more traditional models.

Welcome Home? Examining the Reentry Court Concept from a Strengths-Based Perspective

This article argues that evaluation of drug courts will benefit not only from an organizing typology (Goldkamp, 1999a, 2000) that focuses research on the critical structural elements of the drug court model but also from an understanding of how drug courts are thought to deliver their impact. In developing a causal model of drug court impact, the analysis separates assessment of impact into two investigations: whether drug courts “work” and how they work. Data from the ongoing NIJ-supported evaluation of the Portland and Las Vegas drug courts are analyzed to answer the comparative question of whether there is an impact (and of what sort) and then to move consideration of the internal elements of the drug court (the black box of drug court treatment) through the development of successive theoretical models. The illustrative analyses guided by these models consider the relative contributions of instrumental drug court treatment functions and defendant risk attributes, which contribute importantly to drug co...

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/002204260103100104

Do Drug Courts Work? Getting inside the Drug Court Black Box

The phenomenon of substance abuse during pregnancy has fostered much controversy, specifically regarding treatment vs. punishment. Should the pregnant mother who engages in substance abuse be viewed as a criminal or as someone suffering from an illness requiring appropriate treatment? As it happens, there is a noticeably wide range of responses to this matter in the various states of the United States, ranging from a strictly criminal perspective to one that does emphasize the importance of the mother's treatment. This diversity of dramatically different responses illustrates the failure to establish a uniform policy for the management of this phenomenon. Just as there is lack of consensus among those who favor punishment, the same lack of consensus characterizes those states espousing treatment. Several general policy recommendations are offered here addressing the critical issues. It is hoped that by focusing on these fundamental issues and ultimately detailing statistics, policymakers throughout the United States will consider the course of action that views both pregnant mother and fetus/child as humanely as possible.

/pdf/substance-use-during-pregnancy-time-for-policy-to-catch-up-1nswufkuax.pdf

Substance use during pregnancy: time for policy to catch up with research

There has been a rapid proliferation of drug courts over the past two decades. Empirical research examining the effectiveness of the model has generally demonstrated reduced rates of recidivism among program participants. However, relatively little is known about the structure and processes associated with effective drug courts. The current study seeks to address the issues by exploring the moderating influence of programmatic and non‐programmatic characteristics on effectiveness. The methodology goes beyond previous meta‐analyses by supplementing published (and unpublished) findings with a survey of drug court administrators. Consistent with previous research, the results revealed drug courts reduce recidivism by 9% on average. Further analyses indicated target population, program leverage and intensity, and staff characteristics explain the most variability in drug court effectiveness. These findings are discussed within the context of therapeutic jurisprudence and effective interventions.

Looking Inside the Black Box of Drug Courts: A Meta-Analytic Review

This Article is a grassroots contribution to the legal developments in therapeutic jurisprudence and Drug Treatment Courts (DTCs) from two judge-practitioners. The purpose for writing this Article is to dip into the “therapeutic jurisprudence well” and use this emerging field as an analytic tool to examine DTCs. In so doing, we propose to establish therapeutic jurisprudence as the DTC movement’s jurisprudential foundation. We hope

/pdf/therapeutic-jurisprudence-and-the-drug-treatment-court-2yzxu274di.pdf

Therapeutic Jurisprudence and the Drug Treatment Court Movement: Revolutionizing the Criminal Justice System's Response to Drug Abuse and Crime in America

/pdf/the-judicial-perspective-3vux134dxb.pdf

William G. Schma

Papers

Therapeutic Jurisprudence and the Drug Treatment Court Movement: Revolutionizing the Criminal Justice System's Response to Drug Abuse and Crime in America

The Judicial Perspective