AN ANALYSIS OF FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DRUG TREATMENT COURTS IN THE UNITED STATES
Open Access
Author:
Turo, Joseph
Area of Honors:
Crime, Law, and Justice
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Doris Mac Kenzie, Thesis Supervisor Doris Mac Kenzie, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Jeffery Todd Ulmer, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
drug treatment courts qualitative review
Abstract:
Drug treatment courts have existed since a revolutionary group of judicial officials in Miami-Dade, Florida created the idea in 1989. Today there are over 2,500 drug treatment courts across every state in the United States. Many studies have been conducted to determine if these drug treatment courts are effective at reducing recidivism among drug offenders. Recent studies suggest that these drug courts are effective at reducing recidivism. In a change of pace, Mitchell and his colleagues also try to use their data to answer why drug courts are effective. They have found that program effectiveness is related to the length of the programs, accepting non-violent offenders, and high program graduation rates. In my evaluation, I take twenty-two of the studies examined by Mitchell et.al.(2011) and attempt to determine if the programs with all three of these characteristics do in fact have lower recidivism rates than their counterparts. After examining the data, I do not believe that having all three characteristics has a different effect on the overall recidivism rates of a program. However, program graduation completion alone did appear to have an effect on participants’ success after the program. My evaluation is limited on multiple levels including the number of studies I obtained and the information provided in them. Further analysis should be done in this area due to the importance of the question.
