Factors Associated with Treatment Compliance and its Effects on Retention among Participants in a Court-Mandated Treatment Program

Abstract

Drug treatment court (DTC) programs have been implemented and promoted in American as well as Canadian judicial systems as an effective tool for reducing criminal recidivism rates. An evaluation of the program in Toronto revealed that the drug court participants' substance abuse and criminal behaviors are reduced while they are under the drug courts' jurisdiction, and to some extent recidivism is reduced after participants leave the program. However, while we know from the literature that there are positive effects of the program, the characteristics of drug-dependent offenders who benefit the most from the DTC are less clear. The main purpose of this study was to understand where the prediction from literature, that compliance determines success in treatment, fails. Thus, study participants were divided into two groups: 1) those who might normally be expected to not comply yet who do in the long run (unexpected retention, UR); and 2) those who might normally be expected to comply, but who do not (unexpected expulsions, UE). Discriminant function analysis showed that participants considered UR were subject to conditions of social disadvantage yet quite motivated; whereas UE participants had no housing concern, no indication of family problems, but had additional criminal justice involvement at an early stage of the program. Implications for strengthening DTCs as well as suggestions for future research in the drug treatment and drug court fields are discussed.