Comparing Community and Prison-based Drug Treatments

Abstract

Abstract Evaluations of drug treatment services are essential for the development and funding of future provision. This paper seeks to fill a gap in the existing literature by comparing community and prison-based drug services in terms of a range of factors that are important in assessing drug treatment effectiveness. Data were collected as part of the Drug Outcome Research in Scotland (DORIS) study. Over a period of approximately eight months, two structured questionnaires were administered to 716 drug users. At the first interview, 487 respondents (68%) were beginning community drug treatment and 229 (32%) were starting prison drug treatment. Analyses compared the two groups in terms of characteristics at treatment entry (‘inputs’); treatment services received (‘processes’); and characteristics at eight-month follow-up (‘outcomes’). Consistent with previous research, the findings provide evidence that—at least in the short term—drug treatments work. However, the clients of community drug agencies experienced greater improvements than the clients of prison-based services. The former received a broader range of support than their imprisoned counterparts and rated the assistance that they received significantly more positively. It is concluded that prison services in Scotland are making efforts to assist their drug-using inmates, but greater access to a wider range of prison drug treatments and efforts to improve prison clients’ perceptions of the help they receive are required.