Unlocking the black box: indicators of treatment noncompliance in a DWI court program

Abstract

Although a plethora of research has been conducted on the profiles of substance abusers and the efficacy of various drug treatment programs in lowering post-treatment recidivism, there has been a dearth of studies on the treatment progress itself, the “black-box” in drug/DWI treatment research. This study examines the indicators of treatment noncompliance among a sample of DWI Court Program participants of one county in a Southern state. Results of regression indicate that clients with delinquent peers were less likely to comply with treatment conditions. Results indicate that the odds of a client with criminal acquaintances to be non-compliant were 4.8 times greater than for a client with no criminal acquaintances (p < 0.05). A greater count of sanctions and incentives received also increased the odds of being non-compliant. The odds of a client being noncompliant were 1.5 times greater when the count of incentives increased by one unit. Similarly, the odds of a client being noncompliant were 2.2 times greater when the count of sanctions increased by one unit. Results indicate that the quality of incentives and sanctions rather than the number or rate granted to clients may be more predictive of treatment compliance.