The Influence of Client Risks and Treatment Engagement on Recidivism

Abstract

The current study modeled 12 month post-release re-arrest (recidivism) in terms of pretreatment risk factors (i.e., criminal history, criminal thinking,) and during-treatment engagement in a sample of 653 subjects admitted to four prison-based substance treatment programs. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test during-treatment engagement as a mediator variable in explaining the relationship between the pretreatment risk factors and recidivism. Results indicated that (1) a long history of criminal conduct correlated with criminal thinking, which in turn had a significantly negative relationship with engagement in treatment; (2) the level of criminal involvement had a significant relationship with re-arrest, whereas the level of criminal thinking did not influence being re-arrested directly; (3) the relationship between criminal history and re-arrest was partially mediated by criminal thinking and treatment engagement, whereas the relationship between criminal thinking and re-arrest was fully mediated by treatment engagement. The findings suggest that it is important to design interventions targeting criminal thinking and monitor treatment engagement as an indicator of treatment performance. Clinical implications also include the importance of facilitating treatment engagement and the utility of conducting prognostic assessment to inform treatment.

Gender as a Moderator in Predicting Re-Arrest Among Treated Drug-Involved Offenders

“…Higher peer support for males was associated with lower risk for re-arrest, consistent with previous findings by Yang et al (2013). Support from peers who are in the recovery process may cultivate a positive atmosphere which increases treatment engagement (Joe, Broome, Rowan-Szal, & Simpson, 2002).…”

“…(Joe, Simpson, Greener, & Rowan-Szal, 2004). The scores of the LCI subscale consisted of the overall mean score of five items, ranging from 1 to 5 (Yang, Knight, Joe, Rowan-Szal, Lehman, & Flynn, 2013). …”

“…Criminal history not only directly predicts a high likelihood of re-arrest, but also influences the levels of criminal thinking and treatment engagement which in turn impact re-arrest (Yang, Knight, Joe, Rowan-Szal, Lehman, & Flynn, 2013). Furthermore, high recidivism rates (e.g., 67.5% of prisoners typically re-arrested within 3 years post-release, Langa & Levin, 2002) suggest that a large proportion of individuals with past criminal involvement will recidivate in the future.…”

The Moderating Effect of Substance Abuse Treatment Engagement on the Connection Between Support From Program Participants and Substance-Related Recidivism for Justice-Involved Women

“…Some studies include peer support from other treatment participants as part of a composite measure of treatment engagement (Garner, Knight, Flynn, Morey, & Simpson, 2007; Rowan-Szal, Joe, Simpson, Greener, & Vance, 2009; Simpson, 2006; Simpson & Knight, 2004). In other research, support from other program participants has been treated as a separate indicator of treatment engagement (Yang et al, 2013) or as a component of the social network (Joe, Broome, Rowan-Szal, & Simpson, 2002). This second approach is consistent with the possibility that peers in substance abuse treatment may support either prosocial or antisocial behavior.…”

“…This advisement strategy is not misguided. Substance abuse treatment programming has been shown to be effective in reducing the rate at which substance-abusing individuals reoffend and use substances (Dowden & Blanchette, 2002; Gossop, Trakada, Stewart, & Witton, 2005; Griffith, Knight, Joe, & Simpson, 1998; Matheson, Doherty, & Grant, 2011; Pérez, 2009; Prendergast, Podus, Chang, & Urada, 2002; Stanton-Tindall et al, 2007; Strauss & Falkin, 2001; Yang et al, 2013). However, there are aspects of the treatment experience that require further examination.…”