0 - National Criminal Justice Reference Service
0 - National Criminal Justice Reference Service
0 - National Criminal Justice Reference Service
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9<br />
serve, then they were removed fiom the pool and designated as members of the “no-treatment”<br />
control group. In reality, inmates in the “no-treatment” comparison group may have received<br />
some unknown mix of drug education, self-help, or outpatient services: “The control group did<br />
not receive any formal substance abuse treatment during their prison stay, although limited drug<br />
education and 12-step groups were available” (p. 325).<br />
Numerous questions remain about the effectiveness of prison-based substance abuse<br />
treatment programs. For example: How is quality of program implementation related to treatment<br />
outcomes? Studies of prison-based TC in Texas (Martin, Butzin, and Inciardi, 1995), California<br />
(Wexler and Williams, 1986) and Delaware (Inciardc Martin, Lockwood, Hooper, and Wald,<br />
1992) found numerous implementation problems, including inadequate numbers of trained and<br />
experienced counseling staff and lack of standardized screening, assessment, and selection<br />
processes (see also Farabee et al., 1999; Linhorst et al., 2001). Variations in TC implementation<br />
across different sites may significantly influence treatment outcomes such as recidivism.<br />
Relationships between inmate characteristics, treatment process and outcomes are not yet<br />
well understood (Pearson and Lipton, 1999). For example, how are drug and alcohol needs<br />
assessments conducted, and how do needs assessments influence treatment process and<br />
outcomes? Are inmates with different levels and types of need matched with appropriate<br />
treatment (Andrews et al, 1990)? To what degree does appropriate assessment and program<br />
placement moderate treatment effects? What kinds of inmates are best suited for TC’s?<br />
Finally, what magnitude of treatment effect is to be expected fiom TC if appropriate<br />
extraneous influences are controlled for in analyses (Pearson and Lipton, 1999)? So far, results of<br />
a<br />
prison-based TC have been based upon research conducted mainly in four states (Delaware,<br />
Texas, New York, and California), and it is unclear to what extent observed treatment effects<br />
35<br />
This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of <strong>Justice</strong>. This report has not<br />
been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s)<br />
and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of <strong>Justice</strong>.