Multiple Measures of Outcome in Assessing a Prison-Based Drug Treatment Program

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Abstract
Evaluations of prison-based drug treatment programs typically focus on one or two dichotomous outcome variables related to recidivism. In contrast, this paper uses multiple measures of outcomes related to crime and drug use to examine the impact of prison treatment. Crime variables included self-report data of time to first illegal activity, arrest type, and number of months incarcerated. Days to first reincarceration and type of reincarceration are based on official records. Drug use variables included self-report data of the time to first use and drug testing results. Prisoners randomly assigned to treatment performed significantly better than controls on: days to first illegal activity, days to first incarceration, days to first use, type of reincarceration, and mean number of months incarcerated. No differences were found in type of first arrest or in drug test results. Subjects who completed both prison-based and community-based treatment performed significantly better than subjects who rece...