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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:55 am
Time: 12:55 am
Results for drug offenders (scotland)
1 results foundAuthor: Malloch, Margaret Title: Interventions for Drug Users in the Criminal Justice System: Scottish Review Summary: The purpose of this review was to examine the available research evidence on criminal justice interventions in Scotland in terms of „effectiveness‟, (measured by rates of reconviction/reoffending, and reductions in drug use) and costs. The review also recognises the current policy emphasis on „recovery‟, which requires a wider acknowledgement of the possible mechanisms for measuring „success‟ and a wider vision for the process of recovery itself. The review was undertaken between August and November 2010. This review found that there are a number of difficulties in determining effectiveness in the area of drug interventions - sample numbers within evaluations are often small, the nature of interventions make it difficult to identify control groups and therefore to isolate factors making an impact or indeed, to measure the overall impact of the intervention itself; change often comes from a number of different factors; different methods are often used to measure different outcomes over different periods of time making it impossible to compare effectiveness across interventions. The existence of major gaps in the evidence base for drug interventions is acknowledged internationally. In spite of these limitations, some broad observations can be made from the evidence currently available and which has been considered as part of this review. The rationale for providing drug interventions through the criminal justice system is to fast-track individuals whose criminal activity is directly related to problem drug use into treatment. Evidence on treatment outcomes suggests that the benefit-cost ratio for structured interventions makes such intervention cost-effective (ranging from 2.5:1 to 9.5:1 depending on methods used) making drug treatment in general an economically viable option in terms of costs and benefits. Evidence from Scotland suggests that the total social and economic cost of illicit drug use is just under £3.56 billion (around £61,000 per problem drug user). Estimated costs of crime are reduced significantly for individuals in treatment (from £12,713 for individuals with no intervention in place; to £1,536 for those in treatment for more than one year). Reductions in re-offending appear to be consistent features of evaluations of interventions (where this outcome is available) along with reductions in drug use for individuals who engage with the interventions. Where re-offending continues, evidence suggests that there is a reduction in the rate of re-offending from levels of re-offending prior to the intervention. There is evidence to indicate that retention in treatment and a consequent „good‟ outcome is consistently predicted by the relationship between readiness for treatment and change, motivation and commitment, and the therapeutic relationship. There does not appear to be any significant difference in outcome between those who access treatment through the criminal justice system and those who access it voluntarily. While this highlights the viability of coerced treatment, it would equally suggest that diverting individuals into treatment may be as effective as intervening through the criminal justice system. In order to avoid „net-widening‟, it is important that intensive interventions are used for „high tariff‟ individuals and ensuring that community resources can be accessed outside the criminal justice system. Qualitative evidence, gathered from both professional respondents and service users, provides some positive elements from the Scottish evaluations of criminal justice interventions for drug users; however in terms of outcome and cost effectiveness, there is limited data from which conclusions of overall effectiveness can be drawn: There is currently no evidence to indicate that mandatory drug testing of arrestees provides any benefits, although it does provide some indication of the incidence of drug use among those tested and can provide a basis for directing individuals to appropriate services. Evaluations of arrest referral schemes are unable to provide evidence of benefits beyond the immediacy of the intervention, largely due to lack of evidence on longer-term outcomes including take-up of onward referrals. However, the recent evaluation of the arrest referral intervention for persistent offenders in Glasgow does provide some evidence of reductions in reconviction rates and benefits in terms of cost when individuals engage with services. Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) and Drug Courts are both associated with reductions in drug use and reoffending, with improved outcomes for those who complete Orders. Drug Courts appear to be slightly more successful in terms of reconviction rates than DTTOs. Evidence on the effectiveness of lower tariff DTTOs (DTTO IIs) is inconclusive, however international literature on the use of intensive interventions mitigates against the use of intensive interventions for individuals who are low tariff offenders. Combined residential and community-based interventions such as the 218 Centre and Turnaround have much to offer in promoting recovery, given the holistic nature of the intervention; however although cost data is available there is currently no corresponding data on rates of reoffending/reconviction with which to measure cost-effectiveness. While prison may be an effective point of intervention for some problem drug users, evidence from Scotland is limited, with no reconviction analysis of prison-based drug related interventions currently available. Levels of re-offending on release from prison appear to be directly related to the availability of aftercare provision. Details: Edinburgh: Scottish Centre for Crime & Justice Research, 2011. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report No. 05/2011: Accessed November 19, 2011 at: http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/documents/SCCJR%20REVIEW%20OF%20EFFECTIVENESS.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/documents/SCCJR%20REVIEW%20OF%20EFFECTIVENESS.pdf Shelf Number: 123364 Keywords: Cost-Benefit AnalysisCosts of Criminal JusticeDrug Abuse and CrimeDrug Offenders (Scotland)Drug TreatmentSubstance Abuse Treatment |