Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation Research Articles

Gender and mental health: An examination of procedural justice in a specialized court context.

The procedural justice framework has been applied in the criminal justice contexts of policing, corrections, and courts. According to this perspective, fair treatment, respectful dialogue and being given a proper voice will contribute to citizens' positive views of authority figures. While this literature has grown immensely, several questions remain unanswered. Do males and females perceive similar levels of procedural justice? Does mental health status influence perceptions of fair treatment? Whether procedural justice is a general perspective that can be applied across social groupings has important implications for correctional treatment in that programs that truly "work" for all are more cost-effective. Toward that end, the current study investigates the relationships among procedural justice perceptions, gender, and mental health status in specialized drug courts, a context that has received little empirical attention. We do so using secondary data originally collected between 2003 and 2009 for Rossman, Roman, Zweig, Rempel and Lindquist's Multisite Adult Drug Court Evaluation (MADCE). Results from a full-sample analysis reveal that women report higher levels of procedural justice; that drug court participation significantly influences procedural justice perceptions; and that depressive symptomology is a significant predictor of procedural justice perceptions. In male- and female-specific subsamples, drug court participation exerts similar effects for males and females, as does depressive symptomology. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Quiero Hablar Con Usted en Espanol, Juez

We modified the participant perception survey utilized in the Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation and administered it to participants at a majority Hispanic drug court in south Texas. Results revealed generally positive perceptions of the judge and various measures of procedural justice. Results also revealed that participants perceived the ability to communicate with the (bilingual) judge in Spanish as important to their success in drug court and that this was true even of those participants who were fluent in English as well as Spanish. Our results generate an important policy consideration for these future courts, namely, the language abilities of the judge. We believe that judges at majority Hispanic drug courts will be most effective when they are bilingual in English and Spanish and we call on drug court planners to consider our findings as they develop new courts to serve this growing population.

Does Recent Physical and Sexual Victimization Affect Further Substance Use for Adult Drug-Involved Offenders?

This study examined whether physical and sexual victimization experiences were related to further substance use for a sample of drug-involved adult offenders and whether this increase could be attributed to depression experienced after the victimization occurred. A total of 674 men and 284 women from the longitudinal Multisite Adult Drug Court Evaluation (MADCE) were included in analyses. The study included 23 drug court and 6 comparison sites. Study participants completed three interviews: at baseline enrollment and then at 6 and 18 months after baseline. Multilevel path modeling showed that physical and sexual victimization experiences during the year before the baseline interview were associated with further substance use at 18 months and that this relationship was mediated by depression. All relationships held for both men and women, and beyond the contribution of several control variables, including drug court program participation. Public health and criminal justice personnel working with substance-using offenders should screen individuals for victimization-related trauma and, if identified, provide assistance to evaluate and improve such individuals' mental health and, subsequently, decrease their likelihood of using substances.

Recent Victimization Experiences and Continued Criminal Behaviors: What Are the Links for Adult Drug-Involved Offenders?

Using data from the multi-site adult drug court evaluation (MADCE), we examined the relationship between recent victimization experiences and the likelihood of subsequent criminal behavior among a sample of adult drug-involved offenders. The MADCE data used in this study involved interviews with 674 men and 284 women at baseline and then, 18 months later. Multilevel modeling showed that physical victimizations in the year before baseline, but not sexual victimization experiences, were associated with self-reported criminal offending behavior 18 months later. All relationships held true despite controlling for respondents' demographic, criminal history, prior drug-related characteristics, and their participation in a drug court or comparison site program.