Efficacy of Addiction Treatment in a Correctional Setting for Female Offenders as Measured by the Addiction Severity Index
type: CreativeWork
description: Problem. This study was designed to determine to what extent improvement following treatment for addiction was evident, and if treatment seemed causative in that outcome, for incarcerated female addicts. This study also explored the question of which treatment modality seemed most effective-- an education-only group, a comprehensive long-term treatment group, or a waiting-list control group. -- Method. The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) furnished scores on seven psychosocial areas for subjects. Hypotheses were tested with paired t tests. The means of the pre- and post-tests for the three groups were compared, as well as between group mean scores. Second, a correlation analysis was performed to determine the importance of subject characteristics hypothesized to predict treatment outcomes. Third, questions of validity of subjective versus objective data were addressed by correlation analysis, comparing the subject's self-reported severity of problems with the researcher's rating. Results. In this study, there were statistically significant differences in treatment outcome on several psychosocial score areas in each group, and there was a difference between both treatment groups and the control group. These results suggest that education is better than nothing, and that a comprehensive treatment approach is more effective than an education-only treatment approach. In both pre- and post-test scores, for the Treatment group positive correlations were observed on all measures except Employment Status. There were : Medical Status, Alcohol Use Status, Drug Use Status, Legal Status, Family/Social Status, and Psychological Status. This shows that a positive change was experienced through treatment with subjects in many psychosocial areas. A correlation analysis was performed to attempt to isolate subject characteristics that might predict treatment outcomes. The results showed that no subject characteristic, except education and income levels, was predictive of outcome. The c…
abstract: Problem. This study was designed to determine to what extent improvement following treatment for addiction was evident, and if treatment seemed causative in that outcome, for incarcerated female addicts. This study also explored the question of which treatment modality seemed most effective-- an education-only group, a comprehensive long-term treatment group, or a waiting-list control group. -- Method. The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) furnished scores on seven psychosocial areas for subjects. Hypotheses were tested with paired t tests. The means of the pre- and post-tests for the three groups were compared, as well as between group mean scores. Second, a correlation analysis was performed to determine the importance of subject characteristics hypothesized to predict treatment outcomes. Third, questions of validity of subjective versus objective data were addressed by correlation analysis, comparing the subject's self-reported severity of problems with the researcher's rating. Results. In this study, there were statistically significant differences in treatment outcome on several psychosocial score areas in each group, and there was a difference between both treatment groups and the control group. These results suggest that education is better than nothing, and that a comprehensive treatment approach is more effective than an education-only treatment approach. In both pre- and post-test scores, for the Treatment group positive correlations were observed on all measures except Employment Status. There were : Medical Status, Alcohol Use Status, Drug Use Status, Legal Status, Family/Social Status, and Psychological Status. This shows that a positive change was experienced through treatment with subjects in many psychosocial areas. A correlation analysis was performed to attempt to isolate subject characteristics that might predict treatment outcomes. The results showed that no subject characteristic, except education and income levels, was predictive of outcome. The c…
author: Wiese, Paul Robert
keywords: Mental and Social Health, Substance Abuse and Addiction
date published: 1994-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:53:52Z
provider: Andrews University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Andrews University