0 - National Criminal Justice Reference Service

IV. RESULTS
Process Evaluation Findings
Our sample of TC programs at five different prisons enabled comparisons of
implementation differences across sites. Programmatic differences (e.g., duration, intensity,
structure) may influence treatment process (e.g., treatment engagement) as well as outcomes
(relapse and recidivism).
Sources of data included the following: (1) written program descriptions prepared for each
of the five TC programs (see Appendix 7), (2) inmate interviews conducted with 53 TC inmates
at the five prisons, (3) results fiom a previous Suvey of Drug and Alcohol Programs (Welsh,
20OOa), (4) inmate ratings of treatment process (i-e., several scales fiom the REST), and (5)
program records collected by researchers, including monthly admission and discharge information,
program mission statements, inmate handbooks, and operational manuals.
Several major TC program descriptors are summarized in Table 7. First, the five TC units
varied in terms of size. Two units had 100 or more beds. Large units make it more dacult to
properly implement the TC philosophy, which depends upon positive peer interactions and close
staff supervision. At Waymart, the TC is subdivided into two separate units, one upstairs and one
downstairs. The two units have separate TC meetings, although they share some of the same
treatment groups and the same treatment staff. Houtzdale, on the other hand, has the dficult task
of monitoring and supervising complex interactions between 124 inmates who all live on the same
unit. The potential for “chaos,” as several inmates told us, is high. Morning meetings are held in
the cavernous central area of the unit, where hearing (and participation) is dif3icult. Such factors
(I)
are discussed in detail elsewhere and will not be repeated here (Welsh, 2000b).
68
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.