Drug Court Recidivism in the Rural Midwest: A 3-Year Post-Separation Analysis

• Author: Theresa Wadkins,Julie Campbell
• Date: 01 July 2021
• Published date: 01 July 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/0022042621993071
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0022042621993071

Journal of Drug Issues

2021, Vol. 51(3) 407 –419

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/0022042621993071

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Article

Drug Court Recidivism in the Rural

Midwest: A 3-Year Post-Separation

Analysis

Theresa Wadkins1 and Julie Campbell1

Abstract

Substance abuse continues to be a pressing social problem in the United States today. As

the country battles an opioid epidemic, many jurisdictions have adopted the problem-solving

court model in response. These specialized courts, known as drug courts, offer a rehabilitative

approach to offender management. Drug courts balance substance abuse rehabilitation with

community-based supervision and operate with the philosophy that addressing the addiction will

result in a decrease in criminal offending. The current study examines the recidivism rates for 50

participants who have been separated (i.e., completed or terminated) from one rural drug court

program in the Midwest for at least 3 years. Findings indicate that successful completion of drug

court is associated with decreases in misdemeanor offending, and more importantly, decreases

in felony offending. While preliminary, the findings of this research provide support for the drug

court model in the rural Midwest. Further research in this area is highly recommended.

Keywords

drug court, drug abuse, recidivism, rural drug court

Perhaps one of the most pressing social problems facing the United States today is that of sub-

stance abuse. The abuse of illegal and prescription drugs has been linked to a variety of social ills,

not the least of which is criminal behavior (DeMatteo et al., 2015). Substance abuse is linked to

criminal offending in several ways, the first of which involves violating laws prohibiting the

manufacturing, distribution, and sale of illegal drugs. Offenders may also be driven to commit

property crimes, such as fraud and theft, to support their addictions financially, and finally,

offenders may offend while under the influence of illegal substances. Data collected between

2007 and 2009 indicated that 58% of those incarcerated in state prisons and 63% of those in jail

met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American

Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for drug dependence or abuse, compared with just 5% of

the general population (Bronson et al., 2017). In 2019, 77,206 offenders incarcerated in federal

prisons were serving time for drug offenses. These offenders comprised 45.9% of the federal

prison population, meaning there are more offenders in federal prisons for drug violations than

any other crime (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2019). Many states have turned to drug courts, a

more rehabilitative approach to offender management than incarceration, in an effort to

1University of Nebraska Kearney, NE, USA

Corresponding Author:

Theresa Wadkins, University of Nebraska Kearney, 2507 11th Avenue, Kearney, NE 68849, USA.

Email: wadkinst@unk.edu

993071JODXXX10.1177/0022042621993071Journal of Drug IssuesWadkins and Campbell

research-article2021