Criminal Justice System Contact Research Articles

Treatment effectiveness for legally coerced versus voluntary methadone maintenance clients.

Analyses examined whether addicts reporting themselves coerced into drug abuse treatment by actions of the criminal justice system differed from voluntary admissions in their response to treatment, and whether such responsiveness varied across gender or ethnicity. Six hundred eighteen methadone maintenance clients admitted to programs in six southern California counties were categorized into high, moderate, and low legal coercion levels. Multivariate analysis of variance procedures for repeated measures (before, during, and after initial treatment episode) were used to test relevant hypotheses. Dependent variables included criminal justice system contact, criminal activities, drug and alcohol involvement, and measures of social functioning. Few differences within any measured domain were found among the three groups. All groups were similar in showing substantial improvement in levels of narcotics use, criminal activities, and most other behaviors during treatment with some regression in these behaviors posttreatment. Results support legal coercion as a valid motivation for treatment entry; those coerced into treatment respond in ways similar to voluntary admissions regardless of gender or ethnicity.

A Study of Criminal Justice System Contacts of Former Inpatients

There is increasing evidence that persons suffering from major mental disorders are entering the criminal justice system. It was hypothesized that inadequate community care may be a contributing factor. The present investigation followed 112 chronically mentally disabled persons for two years. Half the participants resided in supervised apartments, half on their own. Groups were matched for risk of criminal justice system contact and for risk of readmission to hospital. During the course of the study, four subjects from each group were arrested for minor criminal offenses. The provision of supervision and housing appeared to have no effect on frequency of contact with the criminal justice system. Alternate explanations for this finding are discussed.

The Role of Experience and Contact in the Recognition of Faces Of Own‐ and Other‐Race Persons

Failing to recognize someone or misidentifying someone can have important personal and social consequences. The perceiver may suffer feelings of embarrassment or stupidity. The target may feel insulted, stereotyped, or in extreme cases may be falsely identified as a criminal. If the perceiver and the target are of different ethnic groups, misidentification can increase intergroup hostility, stereotyping, and intergroup anxiety. Laboratory and field research demonstrates an own‐race bias in recognition accuracy. People are better able to identify members of their own race than members of another race. The significance of own‐race bias in the criminal justice system and intergroup contact situations is reviewed, and cognitive and motivational correlates of own‐race bias are discussed. Four possible explanations for this differential recognition effect are presented. The explanation derived from intergroup contact theory—that differential recognition stems from limited experience with members of other groups—has received surprisingly weak research support thus far, Greater attention to assessing different types of contact may increase our understanding of the ways in which intergroup contact can affect intergroup perceptions.