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Article
Secondary prevention services for clients who are low risk in drug court: A conceptual model
Crime & Delinquency (2006)
  • David DeMatteo
  • Douglas B. Marlowe
  • David Festinger
Abstract
The drug court model assumes that most drug offenders are addicts, and that drug use fuels other criminal activity. As a result, drug court clients must satisfy an intensive regimen of treatment and supervisory obligations. However, research suggests that roughly one third of drug court clients do not have a clinically significant substance use disorder. For these clients, standard drug court services may be ineffective or even contraindicated. Instead, these clients may be best suited for a secondary prevention approach directed at interrupting the acquisition of addictive behaviors. Unfortunately, there are no established secondary prevention packages for adults in criminal justice settings. This article presents a conceptual framework for developing and administering secondary prevention services in drug courts and proposes a platform of prevention techniques that can be tailored in a clinically relevant manner for the sizeable population of drug court clients who are low risk.
Keywords
  • drug court,
  • prevention,
  • drug abuse,
  • risk assessment
Disciplines
Publication Date
January, 2006
Citation Information
David DeMatteo, Douglas B. Marlowe and David Festinger. "Secondary prevention services for clients who are low risk in drug court: A conceptual model" Crime & Delinquency Vol. 52 Iss. 1 (2006)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/david_dematteo/7/