“Being able to speak”: What individuals in jail perceived as helpful about participating in alcohol-related brief interventions

ABSTRACT

Background: A significant proportion of individuals within the criminal justice system meet criteria for a substance use disorder. Treatments for individuals who are incarcerated with substance use disorders show minimal to no benefit on postrelease outcomes, suggesting a need to improve their effectiveness, particularly those that can be delivered in a brief format. The purpose of this study was to describe what individuals in jail with substance use disorders perceived as being helpful about 2 brief alcohol-focused interventions, which can be used to inform future treatments with this population. Methods: Data came from a parent study where 58 individuals in jail with substance use disorders received either a motivational or educational intervention focused on alcohol and other substance use and then completed a questionnaire assessing what was most and least helpful about the interventions. Qualitative responses were coded using a grounded theory approach. Results: Results indicated that participants from both interventions reported that receiving individualized attention and talking one-on-one with someone was helpful, and that the interventions were encouraging and elicited hope. There also were specific components from each intervention that participants said were beneficial, including the opportunity to discuss plans for postrelease and to learn about addiction from psychoeducational videos. Participants noted areas for improving future interventions. Suggestions from participants were to offer tangible resources upon release, make session lengths flexible, and reduce assessment burden during research interviews. Conclusions: Findings align with established approaches for working with marginalized groups, namely, community-based participatory research methods and shared decision-making models for treatment. This study provided a voice to individuals in jail with substance use disorders, a group often underrepresented in the literature, and may offer an initial look at how to improve treatments for this high-risk population.

KEYWORDS:

• Prisoners
• qualitative research
• substance-related disorders
• therapy

Funding

The parent study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA; F31-AA023414) and by the Graduate Professional and Student Association at the University of New Mexico. Ms. Kirouac was funded by the NIAAA (F31-AA024959). Dr. Williams was funded by a Career Development Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research & Development (CDA 12–276). None of the funding organizations had any role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Author contributions

Dr. Owens (principal investigator) designed the study, wrote the protocol, conducted study interviews and the treatment interventions, participated in coding the qualitative data and subsequent discussions, and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. Ms. Kirouac conducted study interviews, participated in coding the qualitative data and subsequent discussions, and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. Ms. Hagler conducted study interviews and the treatment interventions, participated in discussions of coding the qualitative data, and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. Ms. Rowell conducted study interviews and the treatment intervention, and participated in discussions of coding the qualitative data. Dr. Williams provided oversight of the coding of qualitative data and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. All authors participated in editing and have approved the final manuscript.