Comparison of Background Characteristics and Behaviors of African-American, Hispanic, and White Substance Abusers Treated in Federal Prison: Results from the TRIAD Study

Abstract

The lack of empirical literature describing minority substance abusers who seek treatment serves as an obstacle for providing empirically-driven, culturally-relevant substance abuse treatment to minorities in both prison-based and community-based programs. The purpose of this study was to address this gap in the literature by describing and comparing the background characteristics and preincarceration behaviors and social environments of adult African-American, Hispanic, and white substance abusers who were treated in Federal Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) residential drug abuse treatment programs. The study sample included 279 African-American, 72 Hispanic, and 512 white male substance abusers who were treated in 16 prison-based residential drug treatment programs from 1991 to 1995. Consistent with the limited literature, this study tested the hypothesis that there would be significant differences among the groups on most of the variables, with the greatest differences to be noted between African-American and white participants. The results indicated that there were numerous significant differences in demographic and background, family background and criminal history characteristics, but there were only a few differences in preincarceration behaviors and social environment among participants. The findings suggested that addressing participants' treatment needs within the context of their cultural characteristics would enhance treatment for participants.

Keywords:

• African-American
• drug treatment
• prisoners
• social environment