Date of Award:

5-2004

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

David Stein

Committee

David Stein

Committee

Carolyn Barcus

Committee

Susan Crowley

Committee

Renee Galliher

Committee

Julie Gast

Abstract

Research on the efficacy of drug courts for substance-abusing criminal adult offenders has generally found reduced recidivism rates, and both actual and potential cost savings to the public. However, outcome research on juvenile drug courts has been limited. Furthermore, little research has examined variables that may be predictive of outcome in this population. This study reports graduation and rearrest rates for a sample of juvenile drug court participants in Salt Lake City, Utah. Also, this research assessed whether demographics, prior arrest history, attendance at drug education classes, serving detention time, or a preprogram measure of degree of substance abuse (SAS SI-A) help predict several important outcomes (i.e., graduation from the drug court program and number of rearrests per year after leaving drug court). The graduation rate in this sample was fairly high (84.2%). However, the rearrest rate was also relatively high, with slightly over 50% with an arrest for any offense, and 38. 7% with a drug-related arrest during follow-up (average follow-up time 4.3 years). Serving detention and not attending prevention class predicted lower rates of program graduation, while younger age, male gender, not graduating drug court, non-Caucasian status, and past adjudication predicted higher rates of recidivism (rearrest).

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