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Conclusion
This project has demonstrated the value of conducting focus groups with drug court participants to gather critical feedback about the operation of drug courts and their basic assumptions and informal readings on their effectiveness from the participants’ perspectives. Remarkably, focus group data support many of the assumptions made by the designers of drug courts, particularly those relating to the central role of the judge, the courtroom as a therapeutic vehicle, the importance of drug testing, the deterrent impact of selective use of incarceration and other sanctions, and the power of providing a structured opportunity for change and reward. These findings appear fairly consistent across sites and across different drug court populations. Finally, the focus groups have served as important tools for evaluation research in helping to frame and identify areas for investigation that might otherwise have been overlooked.
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