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Criminology

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Date
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Criminology

Authors Names: John H. Boman IVa , Thomas J. Mowena , Eric J. Wodahlb , Bryan Lee

Millerc and J. Mitchell Millerd

Journal Name: Criminal Justice Studies

Date: 2nd September 2019

Title of the Article: Responding to substance-use-related probation and parole violations: are

enhanced treatment sanctions preferable to jail sanctions?

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to find out whether enhanced treatment sanctions are preferred

more than the jail sanctions when responding to substance use related issues on parole and

probation violations.

Theory

Sanctioning approach was adopted to guide this study. The SCF sanctioning approach, which is

based on the well-known HOPE program in Hawaii, stresses the imposition of early and specific

sanctions, frequently in the form of brief jail sentences, as a means of discouraging substance

misuse behavior in parole and probation workloads.

Hypothesis

From the previous studies conducted, the article came up with three hypotheses. The first

hypothesis stated that sanctioning an offender to a jail time is not anticipated as opposed to

community-based sanction which affects the intensive supervision probation success or failure.
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The second hypothesis developed stated that since the treatments are used to generally improve

the resulting outcomes, it is expected that through enhanced treatment of a victim, there is a high

chance of the person completing the intensive supervision probation successfully (Boman et al.,

2019). Thirdly, since the intensive supervision probation treatment has a positive impact on the

success and the jail confinement blocks accessing the substances, increased abuse treatment and

jail is likely to increase the chances of a person being discharged successfully from the intensive

supervision probation.

Empirical Study

Despite the popularity of these programs, early reviews of ISPs did not demonstrate that they

were any more successful than traditional monitoring at rehabilitating criminals. However, more

recent researches have refuted these conclusions by showing that people in ISPs with rigorous

therapy programming components had higher success rates than individuals in ISPs without

strength and conditioning. Another study showed that effective community supervision within

the ISP context requires both therapy and surveillance.

Slowly increasing penalties have indeed been found to be beneficial for an assortment of

outcomes, including increased offender compliance and lower reinstatement rates. For instance,

another frequently referenced review of the Hawaii HOPE program indicated that consequences

applied within the SCF concept were linked to a decrease in missing appointments, a decrease in

failed drug tests, and a decrease in recidivism rates (Boman et al., 2019). A review of four SCF

punishing systems indicated that sanctions were largely ineffective and sometimes had iatrogenic

side effects, such as a higher chance of revocation and recidivism. Similar results were found in
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the review of a SCF sanction program in Delaware by O'Connell and colleagues (Boman et al.,

2019).

The majority of the studies that have been conducted on the efficacy of graded punishments

under supervision in the community have only looked at the use of jail sanctions, which raises

concerns about the effectiveness of punishments that do not really involve jail time (Boman et

al., 2019). Overall, the researchers discovered that receiving a jail sentence had no appreciable

impact on a client's chances of someone being successfully released, the time before their next

infraction, or the number of violations they made while still on ISP.

Key Points

Substance use according to the article is the use of illegal substances against the law. Substance

abuse treatment is a form of treatment that is administered to substance offenders. Jail is a place

where substance abusers are restricted to staying within that area for a certain period of time until

substance abuse treatment is completed. Intensive supervision probation is programs designed

for parolees and probationers to better address corrective objectives among offenders (Boman et

al., 2019). Offender programming refers to programs designed to treat substance abusers.

Research Methodology

The study utilized a quantitative research approach. However, the study used data from the State

of Wyoming clients of probation and parole between 2000 and 2003. The data that was obtained

was about 20% of the total cases between 2000 and 2003, where 283 individuals were including

for the study (Boman et al., 2019). Inclusion and exclusion criteria were involved while selecting

the participants in the study. Individuals who were involved in non-substance violation events

were excluded from the study while those who were in the following categories were included.
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1.) Use of illegal substances like alcohol or marijuana; 2.) Those who failed to submit required

drug tests and; 3.) those failing to attend drug treatments. Control groups were also used which

involved the use of male and female between the age of 17 to 57 years.

Variables

Both independent and dependent variables were used for the study. Dependent variables

involved a one-time measure on whether the individual enrolled in ISP was discharged

successfully (Boman et al., 2019). Independent variable on the other side involved sanction

measures based on the substance-abuse-related violations.

Statistical Techniques

Analysis was done through the multilevel regression models.

Findings and Results

Due to the small size sample, the report significance levels ranged between p ≤ .01, p ≤ .05, and

p ≤ .10 levels (Boman et al., 2019). The jail sanction variable in model one was not statistically

significant which implied that when coping with violations related to drug use, society sanctions

are just as successful as jail sentences. According to control measures, persons who have taken

drugs within the past five years are much more likely to be have their license suspended (p .01)

compared to those who are younger.

Model 2 adds a measure of harsher treatment as a penalty. This metric is statistically significant

(p .05) and positive, indicating that those who get harsher program consequences have a

significantly higher likelihood of finishing the ISP project effectively (Boman et al., 2019). The

final and third model adds an interaction effect that investigates the relationship between having
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completed a program and receiving a jail sentence in conjunction with improved treatment. The

jail x improved treatment interaction term is not statically important. It rejected the hypothesis

three since it does not appear that jail time and more treatment together and have an impact on an

ISP's subsequent discharge.

Limitations

The sample size of this study is too small to significantly give a good conclusion. The sample

size used in the study is more dominated with white male gender based State of Wyoming.

Further, enhanced treatment was applied quickly in Wyoming ISP program without conducting a

research on the existence of a relationship between treatment and ISP completion.

Conclusion

From the study’s findings, it can be concluded that in the event of infractions linked to substance

use, correctional agencies may prefer to forego the use of jail penalties in favor of improved

substance use treatment.

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Reference

Boman IV, J. H., Mowen, T. J., Wodahl, E. J., Lee Miller, B., & Miller, J. M. (2019).

Responding to substance-use-related probation and parole violations: are enhanced

treatment sanctions preferable to jail sanctions?. Criminal Justice Studies, 32(4), 356-

370.