Date of Conferral
2018
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Public Policy and Administration
Advisor
Mary Brown
Abstract
Drug offenders continue to cost citizens and governments money, while drug courts attempt to rehabilitate offenders and reduce recidivism. The Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) is a risk assessment tool used by courts and probation offices to determine needs and risks of offenders, and often determine levels of supervision. The purpose of this quasi experimental study was to determine if there is a statistically significant association between the initial LSI-R scores of offenders entering drug courts and their successful completion of the drug court program. Therapeutic jurisprudence theory, the theoretical framework for this study, suggests that the courts and the law are therapeutic to people and that drug treatment will promote positive behavior changes for the offenders. Data for this study were acquired from a database provided by a Kansas drug court, including initial LSI-R scores, completion records, and demographics of 210 drug court participants. A one-way ANOVA was used to test the hypotheses. Significant statistical results were found, indicating that drug court success was positively associated with the LSI-R score. The study may lead to social change by providing information about participants, most likely to benefit from drug court programs, which will save governments money and make room in the programs for more successful candidates, thus producing more productive citizens in the community.
Recommended Citation
Atkins, Carina T., "Initial Drug Court Risk Assessment Scores and Probationers' Completion of Drug Court Programs" (2018). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 5823.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/5823
