Title
Criminal recidivism among justice-involved veterans following substance use disorder residential treatment
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Psychiatry; Implementation Science and Practice Advances Research Center
Publication Date
2020-07-01
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Criminology and Criminal Justice | Health Services Administration | Health Services Research | Law and Psychology | Military and Veterans Studies | Psychiatry | Psychiatry and Psychology | Substance Abuse and Addiction
Abstract
Veterans in treatment for substance use disorders (SUD) often report past criminal offending. However, the rate of criminal recidivism in this population is unknown. Further, prior research in veterans has not examined personality factors as predictors of recidivism, despite the prominence of such factors in leading models of recidivism risk management. We examined these issues in a secondary data analysis of 197 military veterans with a history of criminal offending who were enrolled in an SUD residential treatment program. Participants were interviewed using several measurement instruments at treatment entry, one month into treatment, treatment discharge, and 12 months post-discharge. Most veterans (94%) had a history of multiple charges, and 53% had recent involvement in the criminal justice system at the time of treatment entry. In the 12 months post-discharge, 22% reported reoffending. In addition, 30% of patients who had been recently involved in the criminal justice system at treatment entry reoffended during follow-up. Higher friend relationship quality (OR = 2.32, 95% CI [1.03, 5.21]) at treatment entry and higher staff ratings of patients' relationship quality with other residents during treatment (OR = 2.76, 95% CI [1.40, 5.41]) predicted lower odds of recidivism post-discharge. After accounting for these factors, smaller reductions during treatment in the personality trait of Negative Emotionality predicted an increased risk for criminal recidivism post-discharge (OR = 1.13, 95% CI [1.01, 1.26]). Results support augmenting the curriculum of SUD programs for veterans with services aimed at reducing risk for criminal recidivism, with a focus on interventions that directly target patients' social support networks and tendencies towards negative emotionality.
Keywords
Criminal recidivism, Personality, Residential treatment, Substance use disorder, Veterans
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106357
Source
Blonigen DM, Macia KS, Smelson D, Timko C. Criminal recidivism among justice-involved veterans following substance use disorder residential treatment. Addict Behav. 2020 Jul;106:106357. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106357. Epub 2020 Feb 15. PMID: 32120199. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Addictive behaviors
Related Resources
PubMed ID
32120199
Repository Citation
Blonigen DM, Macia KS, Smelson DA, Timko C. (2020). Criminal recidivism among justice-involved veterans following substance use disorder residential treatment. Psychiatry Publications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106357. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/psych_pp/936