Lecture 3B: Addictions

Question 1

What was addiction traditionally viewed as?

Answer 1

• Early days addictions (like sexual offending) was seen to reflect moral depravity.
• People chose to be addicts
• This lead to punitive approaches (and resultant poor efficacy of treatment).
• Need to distinguish between the behaviour and the person.

Question 2

What are examples of minor risk factors?

Answer 2

-personal/emotional distress
-major mental disorder
-physical health issues
-fear of official punishment
-Low IQ
-Social class
-physical conditioning
-seriousness of offence
-

Question 3

How do we assess substance use?

Answer 3

• Mental health interviews/questionnaires:
• • Examines Substance use disorders
• • Provides diagnoses
• • Links mental health and crime
• Risk and need assessments
• • Sees substance abuse as but one important construct to assess to determine risk and case planning needs
• • Substance abuse is ranked lower than criminal thinking, criminal peers
• • Does client commit crimes each time they use?
• • What is the role of substance use in criminal conduct for a particular client?
• • What role does substance use play in managing negative affect, trauma?

Question 4

What are some examples of specialized addictions assessments?

Answer 4

AUDIT, NIDAMED, CAGE AID, AUDIT-C, DAST-10, CASA

Question 5

How does addiction fit into the age crime curve?

Answer 5

When compared to offenders with a similar criminal history, those with substance abuse BOTH started committing crimes at a younger age and continued committing crime later into life.

Question 6

What is the lifetime prevalence rate of addictions for federal offenders?

Answer 6

• Alcohol abuse and drug abuse are second and fourth most prevalent lifetime disorders, antisocial is the first and anxiety is the third.
• Substance use disorders have a high lifetime prevalence

Question 7

What is the relationship between alcohol and sexual assault?

Answer 7

Research has suggested that half of all victims and perpetrators had been drinking beforehand.

Question 8

What are drug courts?

Answer 8

• Drug court participants are provided intensive treatment and other services for a minimum of one year.
• There are frequent court appearances and random drug testing, with sanctions and incentives to encourage compliance and completion.
• Successful completion of the treatment program results in dismissal of the charges, reduced or set‐aside sentences, lesser penalties, or a combination of these.
• Most important, graduating participants gain the necessary tools to rebuild their lives.

Question 9

What kinds of effects do drug courts have?

Answer 9

• Drug court programs have a tangible effect on criminal recidivism.
• DOJ national study examined re‐arrest rates for drug court graduates: 84 percent of drug court graduates have not been re‐arrested and charged with a serious crime in the first year aftergraduation, 72.5 percent have no arrests at the two‐year mark.
• Urban Institute found that drug courts provided $2.21 in benefits to the criminal justice system for every $1 invested.

Question 10

What is the prevalence of drug courts in the US?

Answer 10

• Since 1989, drug courts have been established or are being planned in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, and in nearly 90 Tribal locations (see map.)
• There are more than 2,500 drug court programs throughout the United States.
• Approximately 47 percent of counties in the United States are served by drug courts.

Question 11

What is the drug court process in Canada?

Answer 11

-application process
-crown screening
-admission process
-DTC program participation
-program completion
-

Question 12

What are the results of drug courts in canada since 2007?

Answer 12

Based on data since 2007, over 1000 individuals have participated in a federally funded Drug Treatment Court. Of these, 35% have either graduated or are still in the program. Of the remaining 65% that were returned to the regular court system, the majority of them had achieved some quality of life improvements (e.g., no longer homeless, received several months of addiction treatment and were connected to social supports within the community).

Question 13

What percentage of offenders report substance abuse that warrants intervention?

Answer 13

-70% of federal offenders report sufficient problems with substance abuse to warrant intervention
-Of these, 80% report using on the day of their crimes.
-Note: Initially, about 13% of programming in CSC was specific to substance abuse (Others include IPV, SO, VO, employment, education, etc.)
Now program model is ICPM – $398M in 2015-16

Question 14

What are the pathways from intake assessment data?

Answer 14

• Hedonistic-Impulsive Offender Scale (enjoys substance use and a criminal lifestyle)
• Poor coping offender scale (someone who has poor coping and history of trauma)
• Create Low versus High on each scale and examine implications for treatment

Question 15

Do treatment needs vary based on differential profiles?

Answer 15

Yes, it is Important to realize the different types of people, because not every offender is the same

Question 16

What is the impact of substance use on corrections?

Answer 16

• Substance abuse withdrawal upon admission.
• Drug seeking behavior while incarcerated.
• Involvement in underground economy: Bringing in contraband, muscling & dealing, making brew. Debt, misconducts (leads to increased security placement)
• Protective custody (due to debts, refusal to bring in drugs when out to court, when having visits).

Question 17

What are some new applications?

Answer 17

• DRAOR navigator (goal is for you to influence change in your client and to do so you need to have a set of skills or information to assist them)
• when you apply these kind of workbooks (a systematic way to manage your time with a client), the clients have better outcomes

Question 18

How much do drug courts reduce crime?

Answer 18

-A review of five independent meta‐analyses concluded that drug courts significantly reduce crime by an average of 8 to 26 percentage points; well‐administered drug courts were found to reduce crime rates by as much as 35 percent, compared to traditional case dispositions.

Question 19

What has the success of drug courts led to?

Answer 19

-The success of drug courts has led to development of Tribal Wellness, Veterans Treatment, Mentally Ill Offender, Community, and Family Treatment courts.