Extending Recidivism Monitoring for Drug Courts

• Date: 01 January 2017
• Author: David J. Hartmann,Kristen E. DeVall,Paul D. Gregory
• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X15590205
• Published date: 01 January 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2017, Vol. 61(1) 80 –99

© The Author(s) 2015

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X15590205

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Article

Extending Recidivism

Monitoring for Drug Courts:

Methods Issues and Policy

Implications

Kristen E. DeVall1, Paul D. Gregory2, and

David J. Hartmann3

Abstract

A wealth of research has been amassed documenting the effectiveness of drug

treatment courts in addressing the needs of substance-abusing individuals involved

with the criminal justice system. However, there is a relative dearth of research that

examines the long-term impact of these programs on recidivism rates for both drug

treatment court graduates and those unsuccessfully discharged from the program. In

this study, we examine which demographic and programmatic/legal factors influence

program disposition and recidivism rates of participants (both graduates and those

unsuccessfully discharged) across the 5 years following their discharge from a drug

treatment court program located in a suburban city in the Midwest. The study sample

consists of 249 (N = 249) male participants who have been out of the program for

more than 5 years. Results from the univariate and multivariate analyses are provided,

as well as policy implications, directions for future research, and study limitations.

Keywords

drug courts, recidivism monitoring, recidivism rates

Introduction

At a minimum, drug courts must reduce the subsequent substance use and criminal

activity (recidivism) of participants. Simply, as a practical matter, it is not likely that a

1University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA

2University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, USA

3Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, USA

Corresponding Author:

Kristen E. DeVall, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of North

Carolina Wilmington, 601 S. College Rd., Wilmington, NC 28403-5978, USA.

Email: devallk@uncw.edu

590205IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X15590205International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyDeVall et al.

research-article2015

DeVall et al. 81

drug court movement can be sustained without credible evidence of at least compara-

ble outcomes with traditional tracks on recidivism and substance abuse. The reliable

measurement of post-treatment substance use and of attendant problems apart from

criminality is challenging and is not addressed in this article, but we do make two

contributions toward the recidivism inference. For its population of adult male felony

offenders, this article dramatically extends the period of post-program recidivism

analysis from the standard 12 or 24 months to 5 years, and it explicitly examines the

impact of length of program participation and of program completion (graduation) on

recidivism. It must be clear at the outset that we are not trying to establish causal cred-

ibility for recidivism outcomes to drug court treatment. The lack of random assign-

ment and of real control for a holistic risk/needs assessment at program entry makes

such inferences untenable. The point of this article is to establish what, if any, outcome

differences are available for such scrutiny after extending follow-up and after control-

ling, at least, for length of program participation. In short, our tonic is ameliorative

toward proper inference, however, it is not itself productive (curative, if you will) of

such inference.1

Although a number of empirical studies have evidenced lower recidivism rates for

drug court graduates (Deschenes, Turner, & Greenwood, 1995; Gottfredson, Najaka,

& Kearley, 2003; Mitchell, Wilson, Eggers, & Mackenzie, 2012; Roman, Townsend,

& Bhati, 2003; Shaffer, 2011, 2006; Shanahan et al., 2004; Wilson, Mitchell, &

Mackenzie, 2006), only a few studies have examined recidivism rates beyond 2 years

from either program entry or the end of program participation. Both cyclical (reces-

sion-based) and long-term fiscal conditions in jurisdictions across the country have

resulted in budget pressures and a heightened level of scrutiny for resource allocation.

The question of drug treatment court effectiveness, therefore, has a renewed salience.

This study, therefore, makes two contributions to the existing body of literature by

focusing on (a) the recidivism rates of participants (both graduates and those unsuc-

cessfully discharged) across the 5 years following their discharge from the Westside

Drug Treatment Court Program (WDC)2 and (b) the relationship between the length of

time spent in the program and recidivism in the post-program period. To date, only a

handful of empirical studies have evaluated the recidivism rates of program partici-

pants beyond 24 months, and we are not aware of any such studies that examine the

role that length of time spent in the program has on recidivism. This study, therefore,

provides some much-needed insight into the long-term impact drug treatment courts

have on recidivism rates for groups of participants we define as graduates, early termi-

nators, moderate terminators, and late terminators. Within that specification, several

risk and protective factors were also examined in relation to recidivism.

Literature Review

A wealth of research has been amassed on the topic of drug courts over the past two

decades. Early studies focused on answering the question, “Do drug treatment courts

work to reduce recidivism?” More recent work has examined the specific program

components that facilitate success for program participants, and for whom drug