Co‐Occurring Disorders in Treatment‐Based Courts: Results of a National Survey

Abstract

Drug courts and mental health courts have expanded rapidly in the past several decades to provide more efficient coordination of treatment and supervision of offenders with behavioral health problems. A significant number of offenders in these court-based programs have co-occurring mental and substance use disorders, which predict early termination, relapse, rearrest, and other negative outcomes. A web-based national survey examined programmatic adaptations for co-occurring disorders (CODs) among 54 drug courts, mental health courts, and freestanding COD dockets. COD dockets were smaller and of longer duration, and provided more intensive services than programs situated in drug courts or in mental health courts. However, more similarities than differences were noted across the different types of court-based program. Key adaptations for CODs included extended program duration, highly intensive and integrated treatment, smaller, less formal, and more frequent hearings, and use of specialized supervision teams and dually credentialed staff.

Mafia and psychopathy

“…Although our findings were against prediction, they do fit well with some logic. It is well recognised that SUDs are common among offenders generally (Boden et al, ; Peters et al, ), which is what we also found, but Mafia members are required to appear reliable, maintain power and adhere to the internal representations and principles of their organisation, and such skills tend to be impaired by substance use. It may be that substance misusers would be less likely to be selected for Mafia membership (as they would be viewed as liabilities), and if selected by chance, their involvement would be short lived.…”

Addressing the Issue of Problem Gambling in the Criminal Justice System: A Series of Case Studies

“…For those with gambling problems, a gambling treatment court (GTC) could be modelled after the more general practice of problem-solving courts, where clients with psychiatric or substance use problems are redirected away from prison into a therapeutic situation in which the emphasis is on rehabilitation rather than punishment (Cooper, 2003;Farrell, 2011;Nolan, 2002;Peters, Kremling, Bekman, & Caudy, 2012;Slinger & Roesch, 2010).…”

Evaluating the implementation of a prisoner re-entry initiative for individuals with opioid use and mental health disorders: Application of the consolidated framework for implementation research in a cross-system initiative

“…Managing behavioral health needs as well as securing housing, transportation, and employment upon release are all challenging. This population has high rates of recidivism and homelessness and tends to have limited social and financial supports (Messina, Burdon, Hagopian, & Prendergast, 2004;Peters, Kremling, Bekman, & Caudy, 2012;Peters, Sherman, & Osher, 2008).…”