Criminology Commons^™

The adolescent drug problem places a huge toll on society and a heavy burden on the criminal justice system. Research regarding the benefits of therapeutic community treatment for adolescents has shown them to be effective. Despite the ability of therapeutic communities to lower drug relapse and reduce criminality, a great deal remains unknown in terms of how the process of treatment actually works for adolescents. Using data collected as part of the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcomes Studies – Adolescents, this study examines the relationship between therapeutic engagement and treatment retention. The primary findings are that measures of therapeutic engagement had …

Prior research has indicated an inverse relationship between religion and criminal behavior, however few studies have specifically examined the effect of spirituality on the desistance process among a contemporary and diverse sample of reentering drug-involved offenders. A comprehensive understanding of how spirituality is related to desistance from substance use can lead to more effective and evidence-based preventive and rehabilitative interventions. Using data from a longitudinal study of 920 diverse offenders returning to the community after a period of incarceration, the current study examines three distinct forms of substance use (alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine) to gauge the effect that spirituality plays …

The problem of adolescent drug use places a huge toll on society and a heavy burden on the criminal justice system. Despite the ability of therapeutic communities to lower drug relapse, a great deal remains unknown in terms of how the process of treatment actually works for adolescents. Using data collected as part of the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcomes Studies – Adolescents, this study examines the direct and indirect relationship between therapeutic engagement and post-treatment substance use. Though there are few direct effects from therapeutic engagement on substance use, findings suggest that those more engaged in treatment are more likely …