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Should Violent Offenders be Excluded From Drug Court Participation?: An Examination of the Recidivism of Violent and Nonviolent Drug Court Participants

NCJ Number
224371
Journal
Criminal Justice Review Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 291-307
Author(s)
Christine A. Saum; Matthew L. Hiller
Date Published
September 2008
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Results are presented from a study to determine whether recidivism outcomes following drug court differed among offenders with and without violent histories.
Abstract
Study findings show that violent and nonviolent offenders had statistically comparable recidivism rates. The results suggest that the unilateral decision to exclude all violent offenders probably is not the best choice because the additional resources allocated to the supervision and treatment of offenders in these programs may have additional benefits for improving public safety. Policy often stipulates drug court funding cannot be used for offenders with violent criminal histories, although it has been argued that increasing funding to community programs for these individuals represents an important means for controlling crime. Because little research has examined whether a violent offense history is related to recidivism following drug court participation, pre-drug court criminal history and post-drug court arrest and charge data were collected for 452 offenders in a post-plea drug court program from New Castle County (Wilmington) Delaware Superior Court between 1993 and 1997. Tables and references