Prison Substance Misuse Programs and Offender Rehabilitation

Abstract

This article considers the nature of the association between substance misuse and criminal behaviour and how this might inform the development of prison-based substance misuse treatment programs. The literature on what is known about the effectiveness of prison-based treatment is reviewed and the implications for correctional practice considered. It is concluded that prison-based substance misuse treatment should be considered a critical component of rehabilitation programming and that justice outcomes are likely to be improved when a number of program features are incorporated.

Key words:

• substance use
• substance misuse
• treatment
• offender rehabilitation
• program effectiveness

Notes

1. Although most experience some level of formal or informal coercion to participate in rehabilitation programs (e.g., parole decisions are often dependent on the offender having successfully completed a rehabilitation program).

2. The sentencing court makes a referral to the relevant Drug Court if the offender meets five ‘eligibility’ criteria: (1) sentenced to imprisonment with an unexpired non-parole period of 18 months to three years; (2) convicted of at least two offences in the previous five years; (3) not convicted of specified offences such as drug trafficking, sexual assault, and murder; (4) reside in the broader Sydney region; and (5) be over the age of 18.

3. In a fixed effect (FE), each effect size is weighted by the inverse of its variance (1/VAR) and an assumption is made that the observed effect size falls within the range of normal sampling error. For a random effects (RE) model, each effect size is weighted by the inverse of its variance, plus an additional factor; the assumption is that the variance associated with each effect size is based on sampling error and a second component that reflects random variations between the studies, such as differences in procedures and settings.