Gender Specific Treatment Reduces Recidivism by 67%

Here's the abstract from a new study that used random assignment in prison (a nearly impossible task in itself) and found that trauma-informed, gender-specific care served female inmates better. Not very surprising but the authors are to be commended for their methodological rigor. Even more impressive, though was a whopping 67% reduction in reincarceration within 12 months after parole. Wow!

Read more about it here.

MW


 A randomized experimental study of gender-responsive substance abuse treatment for women in prison

UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, 1640 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90025, USA
Received 1 July 2009; received in revised form 26 August 2009; accepted 20 September 2009. published online 16 December 2009.

Abstract 

This experimental pilot study compared postrelease outcomes for 115 women who participated in prison-based substance abuse treatment. Women were randomized to a gender-responsive treatment (GRT) program using manualized curricula (Helping Women Recover and Beyond Trauma) or a standard prison-based therapeutic community. Data were collected from the participants at prison program entry and 6 and 12 months after release. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. Results indicate that both groups improved in psychological well-being; however, GRT participants had greater reductions in drug use, were more likely to remain in residential aftercare longer (2.6 vs. 1.8 months, p < .05), and were less likely to have been reincarcerated within 12 months after parole (31% vs. 45%, respectively; a 67% reduction in odds for the experimental group, p < .05). Findings show the beneficial effects of treatment components oriented toward women's needs and support the integration of GRT in prison programs for women.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ants, Corporations, Complexity, Emergence

Heard on NPR Morning Edition: Ants, bees, and other colonizing insects have complex organizations similar in many respects to modern corporations. Each ant has a specialized function that varies by age. The young ones tend the queen, middle-aged ants do clean up duty, and the older more experienced ants go out foraging for food. "The queen is really the only one with a dead-end job: laying eggs." Ants can jump over the clean up straight to foraging, similar to overachieving corporate managers. I don't know if the ants have to suck up to whoever is the ant CEO (this actually didn't come up) or not. Actually, it doesn't appear there is a CEO, the colonies are self-organizing. The scientist discussing this was asked about whether ants retire and her answer was that "ant retirement is not pretty." There is a specialized function for some ants, namely corpse disposal. So in many ways, ant colonies are similar to corporations, but in addition to the presumed l...
Read more

Thank You For a Wonderful Conference! ‘Stars & Screen,’ our Behind the Scenes story...

Image
We would like to express our profound thanks to everyone who came out and worked so hard to make our ‘Stars & Screen’ Film & Media History Conference really terrific. Much gratitude for your wonderful presentations, films and enthusiastic reception to our symposium. Thank you for making it so special. We really appreciate all your fine efforts. The Stars & Screen conference was a great success! Many thanks for the outstanding responses we received from those attending our conference. Much appreciated. We are gratified that the many scholars, faculty, students, alumni, and parents who attended were delighted with all the wonderful presentations at our Stars & Screen conference. Thank you to everyone who generously donated their time and support to make the ‘Stars & Screen’ Film & Media History Conference possible. Special thanks, gratitude and much appreciation to the Rowan University College of Communication and Creative Arts and the CCCA Deans o...
Read more