Editorial Introduction

• Author: ALAN T. HARLAND
• Published date: 01 June 1999
• Date: 01 June 1999
• DOI: 10.1177/0032885599079002001
• Subject Matter: Articles

THE PRISON JOURNAL / June 1999EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION

EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION

ALAN T. HARLAND

Let me begin by drawing attention to the call for papers included in this is-

sue. It invites submissions to guest editors Mary Stohr and Craig Hemmons

at Boise State University, who are putting together a special issue of The

Prison Journal on the theme of ethics in corrections. For further details,

please contact Mary or Craig at the addresses specified.

Returning to the current issue, with the strong backing of governmental

and professional agencies at the federal, state, and local levels, funding and

support for drug treatment of criminal defendants with substance abuse

dependencies may never havebeen higher than in recent years. In addition to

the proliferation of drug courts and programs at all stages of the criminal jus-

tice process, a number of excellent centers for research and evaluation of

drug treatment issues have also emerged. The result has been a growing

number of studies into initiatives in correctional and other criminal justice

settings, and a corresponding swell of confidence that appropriately

designed and delivered treatment services can play a significant role in the

reduction of drug use and related reoffense conduct.

In the December 1999 volume of The Prison Journal, a special issue will

be devoted to presenting the most recent results of major evaluation studies

from across the country. In the current issue, we lead off with a cautionary

article by researchers from some of the leading drug research centers in the

United States. In their review of the prison-based drug treatment literature,

and based on their own extensive collective experience in the area, David

Farabee and his colleagues draw attention to the positiveresults so far. How-

ever, they also caution that the speed with which programs have developed

carries with it the risk of implementation problems that, if left unattended,

have the potential to undermine the entire drug treatment movement. The

article succinctly documents six such general barriers to successful imple-

mentation and offers suggestions for avoiding or overcoming them.

The focus on drug treatment in corrections is expanded in the second arti-

cle in this issue in which Tom Hanlon and his Maryland colleagues present

the results of their research into the relative effectsof three approaches to the

parole supervision of narcotic addicts and cocaine abusers. Although not

THE PRISON JOURNAL, Vol.79 No. 2, June 1999 147-149

© 1999 Sage Publications, Inc.

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