This article examines the role of drugs in increasing the incarcerated population in the United States. Research is increasingly demonstrating the effectiveness of treatment for incarcerated populations in reducing recidivism and drug use, especially treatment in a therapeutic community (TC). Transitional services that include TC treatment in a work release setting greatly reduce recidivism and relapse, as do aftercare services. Although treatment options are increasing in prisons, there are many more who could benefit from treatment than receive it. Much remains unknown about how to best reach drug-involved offenders to stop the revolving door of drug addiction and incarceration. This article touches on many relevant areas ripe for further research.
References
1.
Apsler, R.
, & Harding, W. M. (1991). Cost-effectiveness analysis of drug abuse treatment: Current status and recommendations for future research. In National Institute on Drug Abuse, Drug Abuse Services research series, No. 1: Background papers on drug abuse financing and services approach. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
2.
Avants, S. K.
, Margolin, A., Koste, T. R., & Singer, J. L. (1993). Changes concurrent with initiation of abstinence from cocaine abuse. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 10(6), 577-583.
3.
Ball, J. C.
, Rosen, L., Flueck, J. A., & Nurco, D. N. (1981). The criminality of heroin addicts when addicted and when off opiates. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), The drug crime connection. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
4.
Ball, J. C.
, Shaffer, J. W., & Nurco, D. N. (1983). Day-to-day criminality of heroin addicts in Baltimore: A study in the continuity of offense rates. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 12(1), 119-142.
5.
Belenko, S.
(1998). Research on drug courts: A critical review. New York: Columbia University, National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.
6.
Blumstein, A.
, & Beck, A. (1999). Population growth in U.S. prisons, 1980-1996. In M. Tonry & J. Petersilia (Eds.), Prisons. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
7.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
. (1997). Correctional populations in the U.S., 1995. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
8.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
. (1999). Felony criminal case processing, 1998. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
9.
Bureau of Justice Statistics/Beck, A. J.
(2000). Prisoners in 1999. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
10.
Bureau of Justice Statistics/Bonczar, T. P.
(1997). Characteristics of adults on probation, 1995. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
11.
Bureau of Justice Statistics/Brown, J. M.
, & Langan, P. A. (1999). Felony sentences in state courts, 1996. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
12.
Bureau of Justice Statistics/Ditton, P. M.
(1999). Mental health and treatment of inmates and probationers. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
13.
Bureau of Justice Statistics/Harlow, C. W.
(1998). Profile of jail inmates, 1996. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
14.
Bureau of Justice Statistics/Mumola, C. J.
(1999). Substance abuse and treatment, state and federal prisoners, 1997. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
15.
Bureau of Justice Statistics/Mumola, C. J.
, & Bonczar, T. P. (1998). Substance abuse and treatment of adults on probation, 1995. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
16.
Bureau of Justice Statistics/Wilson, D. J.
(2000). Drug use, testing, and treatment in jails. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
17.
Caulkins, J. P.
, & Reuter, P. (1997). Setting goals for drug policy: Harm reduction or use reduction. Addiction, 92, 1143-1150.
18.
Cotton, P.
(1994). Hindsight and new data converge on drug policy. Journal of the American Medical Association, 272(13), 992-993.
19.
Farabee, D.
, Prendergast, M., & Anglin, M. D. (1998). The effectiveness of coerced treatment for drug-abusing offenders. Federal Probation, 62(1), 3.
20.
Gebelein, R. S.
(2000). The rebirth of rehabilitation: Promise and perils of drug courts. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
21.
General Accounting Office
. (1997). Drug courts: Overview of growth, characteristics, and results. Washington, DC: Author.
22.
General Accounting Office
. (2000). State and federal prisoners: Profiles of inmates characteristics in 1991 and 1997. Washington, DC: Author.
23.
Gerstein, D. R.
, Johnson, R. A., Harwood, H. J., Fountain, D., Suter, N., & Malloy, K. (1994). Evaluating recovery services: The California Drug and Alcohol Treatment Assessment (CALDATA). Sacramento, CA: California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.
24.
Harrison, L. D.
(1992). The drug-crime nexus in the USA. Contemporary Drug Problems, 19(2), 203-246.
25.
Harrison, L. D.
, & Martin, S. S. (in press). Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for state prisoners formula grant: Compendium of program implementation and accomplishments. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, and the National Institute of Justice.
26.
Harwood, H.
, Fountain, D., & Livermore, G. (1996). The economic costs of alcohol and drug abuse in the United States 1992. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
27.
Harwood, H. J.
, Hubbard, R. L., Collins, J. J., & Rachal, J. V. (1988). The costs of crime and the benefits of drug abuse treatment: A cost-benefit analysis using TOPS data. In C. G. Leukefeld & F. M. Tims (Eds.), Compulsory treatment of drug abuse: Research and clinical practice (pp. 209-235) (National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Monograph No. 86) (DHHS Pub. No. [ADM]89-1578). Washington, DC: Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office.
28.
Harwood, H. J.
, Napolitano, D. M., Kristiansen, P., & Collins, J. J. (1984). Economic costs to society of alcohol and drug abuse and mental illness. Research Triangle Park, NC: Research Triangle Institute.
29.
Holder, H. D.
(1987). Alcoholism treatment and potential health care cost saving. Medical Care, 25(1), 52-71.
30.
Holder, H. D.
, & Blose, J. O. (1992). The reduction of health care costs associated with alcoholism treatment: A 14-year longitudinal study. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 53, 293-302.
31.
Hubbard, R. L.
, Craddock, S. G., Flynn, P. M., Anderson, J., & Etheridge, R. M. (1997). Overview of 1-year follow-up outcomes in the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS). Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 11, 261-278.
32.
Hubbard, R. L.
, Marsden, M. E., Rachal, J. V., Harwood, H. J., Cavanaugh, E. R., & Ginzburg, H. M. (1989). Drug abuse treatment: A national study of effectiveness. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
33.
Inciardi, J. A.
(1992). The war on drugs II: The continuing grip of heroin, cocaine, crack, crime, AIDS, and public policy. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
34.
Inciardi, J. A.
, Horowitz, R., & Pottieger, A. E. (1993). Women and crack-cocaine. New York: Macmillan.
35.
Inciardi, J. A.
, Martin, S. S., Butzin, C. A., Hooper, R. M., & Harrison, L. D. (1997). An effective model of prison-based treatment for drug-involved offenders. Journal of Drug Issues, 27(2), 261-278.
36.
Inciardi, J. A.
, & Pottieger, A. E. (1986, Winter). Drug use and crime among two cohorts of women narcotics users: An empirical assessment. Journal of Drug Issues, 16, 91-106.
37.
Inciardi, J. A.
, & Pottieger, A. E. (1991). Kids, crack and crime. Journal of Drug Issues, 21(2), 257-270.
38.
Inciardi, J. A.
, & Pottieger, A. E. (1998). Drug use and street crime in Miami: An almost twenty-year retrospective. Substance Use and Misuse, 33(9), 1839-1870.
39.
Johnson, B. D.
, Goldstein, P. J., Preble, E., Schmeidler, J., Lipton, D. S., Spunt, B., & Miller, T. (1985). Taking care of business: The economics of crime by heroin users. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
40.
Jones, K. R.
, & Vischi, T. R. (1979). Impact of alcohol, drug abuse and mental health treatment on medical care utilization: A review of the research literature. Medical Care, 17(Suppl. 12).
41.
Knight, K.
, Simpson, D. D., & Hiller, M. L. (1999). Three-year reincarceration outcomes for inprison therapeutic community treatment in Texas. The Prison Journal, 79, 337-351.
42.
Lipton, D. S.
(1995). The effectiveness of treatment for drug abusers under criminal justice supervision. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, and the National Institute of Justice.
43.
Lipton, D. S.
, & Johnson, B. D. (1998). Smack, crack and score: Two decades of NIDA-funded drugs and crime research at NDRI 1974-1994. Substance Use and Misuse, 33(9), 1779-1816.
44.
Lipton, D. S.
, Pearson, F. S., & Wexler, H. K. (2000). Final report: National evaluation of the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for state prisoners program from onset to midpoint (Rep. to the National Institute of Justice). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
45.
Martin, S. S.
, Butzin, C. A, Saum, C. A., & Inciardi, J. A. (1999). Three-year outcomes of therapeutic community treatment for drug-involved offenders in Delaware: From prison to work release to aftercare. The Prison Journal, 79, 294-320.
46.
Martin, S. S.
, & Inciardi, J. A. (1993a). Case management approaches for criminal justice clients. In J. A. Inciardi (Ed.), Drug treatment and criminal justice (pp. 81-96). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
47.
Martin, S. S.
, & Inciardi, J. A. (1993b). A case management treatment program for drug involved prison releases. The Prison Journal, 73(3/4), 319-331.
48.
National Institute on Drug Abuse
. (1992). Extent and adequacy of insurance coverage for substance abuse services (Institute of Medicine Rep.: Treating Drug Problems). In Drug Abuse Services research series, No. 2, Vol. 1. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration; National Institute on Drug Abuse.
49.
Nurco, D. N.
(1998). A long term program of research on drug use and crime. Substance Use and Misuse, 33(9), 1817-1838.
50.
O'Brien, C. P.
, & McClelland, T. A. (1996). Myths about the treatment of addiction. Lancet, 347, 237-240.
51.
Pearson, F. S.
, & Lipton, D. S. (1999). A meta-analytic review of the effectiveness of corrections-based treatments for drug abuse, The Prison Journal, 79, 384-410.
52.
Peters, R. H.
, & Murrin, M. R. (2000). Effectiveness of treatment-based drug courts in reducing criminal recidivism. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 20(1), 72-96.
53.
Pettiway, L. E.
(1987). Participation in crime partnerships by female drug users: The effects of domestic arrangements, drug use, and criminal involvement. Criminology, 251, 741-766.
54.
Rice, D. P.
, Kelman, S., Miller, L. S., & Dunmeyer, S. (1990). The economic costs of alcohol and drug abuse and mental illness: 1985 (Rep. Submitted to the Office of Financing and Coverage Policy of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). San Francisco: Institute for Health and Aging.
55.
Robinson, L.
, & Travis, J. (n.d.). Managing prisoner reentry for public safety. Unpublished manuscript.
56.
Simpson, D. D.
, Davage, L. J., Lloyd, M. R., & Sells, S. B. (1978). Evaluation of drug abuse treatments based on first year follow up (NIDA Services Research Monograph Series No. ADM 78-701). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.
57.
Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration
. (2000). Substance abuse treatment in adult and juvenile correctional facilities: Finding from the Uniform Facility Data Set 1997 Survey of Correctional Facilities. Rockville, MD: Author. Available: www.samhsa.gov/csat/csat.htm
58.
Wexler, H. K.
, Melnick, G., Lowe, L., & Peters, J. (1999). Three-year reincarceration outcomes for Amity in-prison therapeutic community and aftercare in California. The Prison Journal, 79, 321-336.
