Testing the Gender Effect in Drug and Alcohol Treatment

• Author: Bin Liang,Michael A. Long
• Published date: 01 July 2013
• DOI: 10.1177/0022042612471811
• Date: 01 July 2013
• Subject Matter: Articles

Journal of Drug Issues

43(3) 270 –288

© The Author(s) 2013

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DOI: 10.1177/0022042612471811

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471811JODXXX10.1177/0022042612471811Journal of Drug IssuesLiang and Long

1Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA

Corresponding Author:

Bin Liang, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Oklahoma State University–Tulsa, 700 North Greenwood

Avenue, Main Hall, 2223, Tulsa, OK 74106, USA.

Email: bin.liang@okstate.edu

Testing the Gender Effect in

Drug and Alcohol Treatment:

Women’s Participation in Tulsa

County Drug and DUI Programs

Bin Liang1 and Michael A. Long1

Abstract

Though research on drug and driving under the influence (DUI) courts increased significantly in

the past two decades, ver y little has focused on women’s participation in these programs and

how gender may have influenced clients’ performance, despite the call of feminist criminologists

that entry into crime and substance abuse is different for women. Based on data collected from

Tulsa County DUI and Drug programs in Oklahoma, this study examines the impact of gender

on clients’ performance in both programs. In addition to identifying associations between clients’

gender and demographics, criminal history, addiction problems, and other medical and mental

health problems, this study explores gender’s impact on both program progress (e.g., program

length, use of sanctions, relapse) and final outcome (termination vs. graduation). Data show that

different factors are associated with female entry into drug and DUI courts and successful com-

pletion of the program compared with men, which calls for gender tailored treatment for women.

Keywords

gender, women, DUI/Drug program, addiction, treatment

Introduction

Beginning with the 1980s “War-on-Drugs” policy, federal and state correctional facilities have

seen an enormous growth in prisoners, due in large part to individuals who have been arrested

and incarcerated for drug offenses. Official data reports that adult arrests for drug offenses

increased from 322,3001 in 1970 to 1,645,500 in 2007, and the number of people incarcerated

in state correctional facilities for drug offenses increased from 19,000 in 1980 to 265,800 in

2006 (data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics). The addition of alcohol-related offenses makes

those numbers higher. For example, in 2005, 80% of adults incarcerated in the United States for

felonies could be categorized in one or more of the following ways: (a) were regular alcohol or

other drug abusers, (b) had been convicted of an alcohol or other drug violation, (c) were under

the influence of alcohol or other drugs at the time of their crime, or (d) committed a crime to

support their drug use (Hora & Stalcup, 2007).

Liang and Long 271

These trends are echoed in Oklahoma (the location of the present study) where the prison

inmate population increased from 4,595 in 1980 to 25,935 in 2010 (Oklahoma Department of

Corrections [DOC], 2010). From 1990 to 2005, drug and alcohol receptions to Oklahoma DOC

increased from 2,129 to 4,021 (Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Services, 2007). The 2010 Oklahoma DOC annual report showed that 34% of offenses commit-

ted by inmates were alcohol or drug related, and 46% of probation clients (24,711 in 2010) and

56% of parole clients (3,538 in 2010) committed alcohol or drug-related offenses.

The incarceration of women has also increased nationwide over the same time period. The

women’s correctional population (including incarceration, probation, and parole) increased from

608,720 in 1990 (14% of the total correctional population) to 1.3 million by 2009 (18% of the

total). The number of female prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional

facilities increased from 93,234 in 2000 to 113,462 by 2009 (Glaze, 2010). Drug offenses con-

sistently account for a significant proportion of all offenses committed by women. For example,

close to 30% of female prisoners under state jurisdiction were sentenced for drug offenses in

2005 and 2006 (Prisoners in 2007, 2008).

Again, Oklahoma trended with the rest of the nation. Female inmate population in Oklahoma

increased from 2,289 in 2000 to 2,760 in 2010. In 2010, 10.64% of Oklahoma incarcerated

inmates were women, and 23.4% of probation clients and 17.4% of parole clients were women

(Oklahoma DOC, 2010; Oklahoma DOC, Division of Female Offender Operations, 2010). Drug

offenses accounted for the largest share of offenses committed by women inmates in Oklahoma.

Fifty-one percent of women inmates incarcerated by the end of 2010 committed drug offenses,

led by distributing controlled substances (20.3%) and possession and obtaining controlled sub-

stances (19.8%) (Oklahoma DOC, 2010; Oklahoma DOC, Division of Female Offender

Operations, 2010).

Facing the rising incarceration and drug abuse across the nation and in Oklahoma, drug court

programs and other problem-solving programs (e.g., Driving Under the Influence [DUI] programs)

have been created to target addiction problems. These treatment programs aim at providing ser-

vices to people with addiction problems and attempt to divert many nonviolent, substance abusing

offenders from prison and jail into treatment. As of 2009, 1,317 adult drug courts were in operation

servicing over 116,300 participants (National Drug Court Institute, 2011), with females making up

approximately 25% of participants (Bureau of Justice Assistance, Drug Court Clearinghouse,

2007). As of January 2011, Oklahoma has 54 drug courts serving 4,178 active clients, with a higher

percentage of women clients (approximately 30%) compared with the national average.

In this study, we focus on gender differentials in drug and DUI court completion. Recent

research has emphasized that crime, substance use, and treatment involving women should pay

special attention to women’s needs because of the unique problems that women have to deal with

such as unplanned pregnancy, sexual abuse, and sexual assault (e.g., Chesney-Lind & Pasko,

2004). This study focuses on gender differences in addiction treatment and tries to identify what

variables predict successful completion of drug and DUI courts in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, for

both men and women. By identifying factors that predict successful program completion sepa-

rately for men and women, hopefully, future treatment providers will be able to focus more

closely on the unique needs of women to better improve their treatment.

The remainder of the article proceeds as follows. First, we provide a brief overview of recent

scholarship on feminist criminology, followed by sections that focus on women’s addiction and

treatment, and research on gender and DUI/drug courts. Next, we turn to our study on the Tulsa

County Drug and DUI programs. Specifically, we formulate our research questions, briefly dis-

cuss the Tulsa County Drug and DUI programs, identify variables used in our analyses, and

report results from our analyses. Finally, we discuss key findings, weaknesses, and limitations of

the study, and directions for future studies.