Modalities In Jails

United States jails and prisons are overflowing with individuals convicted of drug and alcohol related crimes. A substantially large portion of those inmates meet the DSM-5 criteria for substance dependence and are even more likely to be habitual offenders as a result of the innate nature of substance dependency. Investigating the long-term effects of court-mandated treatment programs outside of jail and prison could provide valuable insight with the potential to greatly reduce the rate of repeated offenses among participants, increase the mental health and efficiency of society, and ultimately reduce future costs associated with jailing repeated offenders.
Several studies have been done to investigate the effects of various treatment modalities
He was especially interested in the number of repeated offences and the amount of time it took for them to occur. He utilized a “matched case-cohort study design” and matched each drug court participant to two traditional criminal court participants in “age, gender, criminal history, ethnicity, and upon drug-related charge filed between 2004-2006” (Brown, 2011, p. 209). He observed participants from the time of their charge prior to treatment until the last day of December in 2009. His results concluded that those who participated in treatment ordered by drug court were significantly less likely to accrue additional charges after treatment and if they did, the amount of time it took them to do so was longer (Brown, 2011). This study also showed more significant treatment effects for minority groups, female participants, and those with a more severe criminal past. This important finding could be attributed to the type of research design used (Brown, 2011). Unfortunately, this study did not clarify whether or not participants met the appropriate criteria for substance dependency or take aftercare and/or support groups and socioeconomic status into