Search

This article describes the rationale, study design, and implementation for the Step'n Out study of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies. Step'n Out tests the relative effectiveness of collaborative behavioral management of drug-involved parolees. Collaborative behavioral management integrates the roles of parole officers and treatment counselors to provide role induction counseling, contract for pro-social behavior, and deliver contingent reinforcement of behaviors consistent with treatment objectives. The Step'n Out study will randomize 450 drug-involved parolees to collaborative behavioral management or usual parole. Follow-up at 3-and 9-months will assess primary outcomes of rearrest, crime and drug use. If collaborative behavioral management is effective, its wider adoption could improve the outcomes of community reentry of drug-involved ex-offenders. (Contains 4 tables.)

Examined availability of various treatment services within a national sample of programs treating adolescent drug abuse patients. Created treatment service delivery profiles and examined them in context of organizational variables. Found that distinct profiles of services existed within residential and outpatient modalities and that these service profiles were related both to organizational factors and to patient problem profiles. (Author/KB)

The increasing incidence of drug abuse and addiction calls for a need to improve public safety by implementing new therapeutic strategies against addiction. Some neuroscientific findings and evidence-based principles of addiction treatment which could be integrated in the criminal justice system to help improve public health and reduce crime due to addiction are highlighted.

This article describes the rationale, study design, and implementation for the Step'n Out study of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies. Step'n Out tests the relative effectiveness of collaborative behavioral management of drug-involved parolees. Collaborative behavioral management integrates the roles of parole officers and treatment counselors to provide role induction counseling, contract for pro-social behavior, and deliver contingent reinforcement of behaviors consistent with treatment objectives. The Step'n Out study will randomize 450 drug-involved parolees to collaborative behavioral management or usual parole. Follow-up at 3-and 9-months will assess primary outcomes of rearrest, crime and drug use. If collaborative behavioral management is effective, its wider adoption could improve the outcomes of community reentry of drug-involved ex-offenders. KEYWORDS Community corrections, community reinforcement, contingency management, drug abusear, graduated sanctions, parole

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2007.00363.x Byline: JOSEPH J. SHIELDS (1), KIRK M. BROOME (2), PETER J. DELANY (3), BENNETT W. FLETCHER (4), PATRICK M. FLYNN (5) Abstract: The relationship between personal religiousness and substance abuse treatment outcomes has emerged as an important issue in the public health arena. Using the 'moral community' perspective, a conceptual framework developed by Stark, Kent, and Doyle (1982) to analyze the contextual effects of religion, we explore the degree to which religion influences two drug treatment outcome measures-critical retention and commitment to treatment. The data are derived from the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies (DATOS), a national study of 10,010 clients enrolled in 70 drug treatment programs. Three research questions were addressed: (1) What is the relationship between an individual's level of religiosity and retention in treatment and commitment to treatment? (2) How does the ecological context of treatment programs shape the individual-level relationships? (3) To what extent are program practices and characteristics directly linked to outcome level? The findings are supportive of the literature that shows a weak to moderate relationship between religiosity and treatment outcomes. However, the findings did not show strong support for the 'moral community' hypothesis. Although there was a wide variation in the size of the individual-level religiosity-treatment correlations, the variation could not be conclusively attributed to the overall religious emphasis of the programs. The findings suggest that further research is needed in order to understand fully the role of religion in substance abuse treatment. Author Affiliation: (1)Joseph J. Shields, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Social Work at the National Catholic School of Social Service, the Catholic University of America. (2)Kirk M. Broome, Ph.D. is Research Scientist at the Institute of Behavioral Research, Texas Christian University. E-mail:k.broome@tcu.edu (3)Peter J. Delany, Ph.D. is Program Director for Health Services Research at the National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health. E-mail:delanyp@mail.nih.gov (4)Bennett W. Fletcher is Senior Research Psychologist at the National Institute for Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health. E-mail:Bfletche@mail.nih.gov (5)Patrick M. Flynn, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology and Deputy Director of the Institute of Behavioral Research at Texas Christian University. E-mail:p.flynn@tcu.edu Article note: Correspondence should be addressed to Joseph J. Shields, Social Work, National Catholic School of Social Service, the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064. E-mail: Shields@cua.edu

This study examined patient and program factors that influenced the receipt of scheduled supportive services in the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies (DATOS). Patients (N = 2,932) in 21 long-term residential (LTR) programs, 27 outpatient methadone treatment (OMT), and 25 outpatient drug-free programs were interviewed at admission and at 3 months during treatment. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between patient-level and program-level factors associated with receiving supportive services in seven categories (medical, psychological, family, legal, educational, vocational, and financial). LTR patients received more services on average than outpatients (especially OMT), but patients overall received few services in the first 3 months of treatment. The patient-level likelihood of receiving services was related to being female and to having higher problem severity at intake. At the program level, outpatient clientele with higher problem severity received more services if they entered a program whose other enrolled patients were less troubled on average. Keywords. Treatment service utilization; Supportive services; Patient and program factors