0 - National Criminal Justice Reference Service

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Independent Variables
One excellent instrument designed to assess inmate perceptions of the treatment process is
the TCU Resident Evaluation of Selfand Treatment (REST) (Knight et al., 1997; Simpson, 1994).
The TCU REST includes inmate ratings of perceptions of drug-related problems and psychological
functioning, treatment program features, participation in therapeutic groups, counselor attitudes
and behavior, resident attitudes and behavior, and counseling sessions (both group and individual).
The TCU Psychosocial Functioning scales include standardized measures of psychological
adjustment (e.g., self-esteem, depression, anxiety, decision-making) and social functioning (e.g.
childhood problems, hostility, risk-taking, and social conformity). Items also include measures of
the inmate’s motivation to seek treatment (e.g., treatment readiness), another variable that has
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been found to influence treatment outcome (Broome, Knight, Knight, Hiller and Simpson, 1997;
Czuchry, Dansereau, Sia, and Simpson, 1998). AU scales have evidenced good reliability and have
been validated upon inmate treatment populations (Simpson and Knight, 1998). We briefly
summarize the TCU instruments and subscales here.
TCU Drug, Screen
The TCU Drug Screen, created by researchers at Texas Christian University, is a
screening tool used to determine the overall level of drug use and dependency of an individual
(see Appendix 4). The items in this screening tool represent key clinical and diagnostic criteria for
substance dependency as they appear in the DSM and NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule. This
instrument has shown good validity and reliability in numerous studies of correctional populations
(see Broome, Knight, Joe and Simpson, 1996; Shearer and Carter, 1999; Simpson, Knight, and
Broome, 1997).
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This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not
been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s)
and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.