Correlates of Drug Treatment Outcomes for African American and White Male Federal Prisoners: Results from the TRIAD Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of family background and preincarceration socioenvironmental variables on three‐year post‐release drug use for African American and white prison‐based drug treatment participants in order to explain the previously found disparities in rates of three‐year post‐release drug use between the two groups. There were two hypotheses: 1) for both groups, family background and preincarceration socioenvironmental variables would predict postrelease drug use more strongly than sociodemographic characteristics and preincarceration behaviors, and 2) the predictors would be different for each group. The sample included 279 African American and 512 white male treatment participants who were supervised by a U.S. probation officer following incarceration. Event history analyses were used to model time to first drug use during postrelease supervision. The results indicated that none of the family background factors or socioenvironmental variables predicted postrelease drug use. The variables predictive of drug use for one or both racial groups were limited to sociodemographic characteristics and preincarceration behaviors such as age at release, prior commitments, and preincarceration employment. Yet, there were no significant between‐group differences for these predictors. The authors concluded that future assessment of the effects of socioenvironmental variables on postrelease drug use likely requires evaluation of the postrelease social environment at the time of release.

• Drug treatment outcomes
• Socioenvironmental factors
• African American
• Prison‐based