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Assessing Harm Reduction: A Qualitative Investigation about the Impact of Therapeutic Jurisprudence on Non-completing Drug Court Clients

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Date Issued:
2011
Abstract/Description:
Currently, the drug court treatment outcome literature provides little guidance about examining clients that fail to complete drug court. Typically, only successful clients are tracked and measured for outcome success characteristics and not much is known about unsuccessful client outcomes. A large portion of individuals who begin drug court do not complete the program. With unsuccessful rates ranging from 34 to 73%, it seems reasonable to examine the outcome of these cases. Ignoring this phenomenon is problematic because various stakeholders remain uninformed about the drug court model's full effectiveness. The focus on successful clients may fail to fully capture and understand positive residual effects of the drug court program. Questions in this research include: Do unsuccessful drug court clients experience positive program results? Has self-awareness increased about the extent of their substance abuse problem? Are unsuccessful clients more confident in their ability to effect positive change? Is there an increased motivation to change? If non-completers are more aware of the potential for harm, are there reductions in risky behaviors? This study is a qualitative investigation using a phenomenological design. The data source is a convenience sample of unsuccessful drug court clients that participated in a pre-trial intervention or post-plea adult drug court program in East Central, Florida. The unit of analysis is the individual, and the total number of participants interviewed is N=30. A grounded theory approach, a harm reduction paradigm from the psychotherapy arena, and a variation of an Intention-to-Treat design from the medical field were used to frame the research. This study found some reductions in both criminality and substance use. Several participants also reported improved familial relations and continued connections to the recovery community. Many participants demonstrated an increased self-awareness of a destructive lifestyle, an increased motivation to change destructive behaviors, and an increased self-efficacy in their ability to make substantive life changes. Incarceration was also found to be a motivator for positive change. Therefore, the inclusion of unsuccessful client outcomes was found to be critical to fully understanding the impact of the therapeutic jurisprudence model.
Title: Assessing Harm Reduction: A Qualitative Investigation about the Impact of Therapeutic Jurisprudence on Non-completing Drug Court Clients.
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Name(s): Francis, Traci, Author
Sanborn, Joseph, Committee Chair
Reynolds, Kenneth, Committee Member
Mccarthy, Bernard, Committee Member
, Committee Member
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2011
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: Currently, the drug court treatment outcome literature provides little guidance about examining clients that fail to complete drug court. Typically, only successful clients are tracked and measured for outcome success characteristics and not much is known about unsuccessful client outcomes. A large portion of individuals who begin drug court do not complete the program. With unsuccessful rates ranging from 34 to 73%, it seems reasonable to examine the outcome of these cases. Ignoring this phenomenon is problematic because various stakeholders remain uninformed about the drug court model's full effectiveness. The focus on successful clients may fail to fully capture and understand positive residual effects of the drug court program. Questions in this research include: Do unsuccessful drug court clients experience positive program results? Has self-awareness increased about the extent of their substance abuse problem? Are unsuccessful clients more confident in their ability to effect positive change? Is there an increased motivation to change? If non-completers are more aware of the potential for harm, are there reductions in risky behaviors? This study is a qualitative investigation using a phenomenological design. The data source is a convenience sample of unsuccessful drug court clients that participated in a pre-trial intervention or post-plea adult drug court program in East Central, Florida. The unit of analysis is the individual, and the total number of participants interviewed is N=30. A grounded theory approach, a harm reduction paradigm from the psychotherapy arena, and a variation of an Intention-to-Treat design from the medical field were used to frame the research. This study found some reductions in both criminality and substance use. Several participants also reported improved familial relations and continued connections to the recovery community. Many participants demonstrated an increased self-awareness of a destructive lifestyle, an increased motivation to change destructive behaviors, and an increased self-efficacy in their ability to make substantive life changes. Incarceration was also found to be a motivator for positive change. Therefore, the inclusion of unsuccessful client outcomes was found to be critical to fully understanding the impact of the therapeutic jurisprudence model.
Identifier: CFE0004109 (IID), ucf:49106 (fedora)
Note(s): 2011-12-01
Ph.D.
Health and Public Affairs, Dean's Office COHPA
Doctoral
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): Harm Reduction Public Affairs
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004109
Restrictions on Access: campus 2016-12-15
Host Institution: UCF

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