The effectiveness of drug treatment programs in reducing criminal behavior: A meta-analysis

Résumé 0

"The main aim of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of drug treatment programs in reducing criminalbehavior. The research is based on a systematic review and meta-analysis of evaluations of drugtreatment programs. The research investigated various drug treatment programs including methadonetreatment, therapeutic communities, post-release supervision for drug-misusing offenders, and drugcourts, and focused on drug treatment programs that were primarily concerned with heroin, crack andcocaine misuse. The main outcome variable analyzed was reoffending following treatment as measuredby self-reports or official records. The study was based on a meta-analysis of 28 evaluations of drugtreatment programs. The meta-analysis involved calculating individual effect sizes for each study andweighted mean effect sizes for groups of studies. The mean odds of offending following treatment weresignificantly lower among clients of the drug treatment programs than among the comparisongroups. However, the results varied by type of program, type of evaluation methods used, and characteristicsof clients."