Date of Conferral

2019

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

David Rentler

Abstract

The sentencing and use of mandated treatment policies throughout the country have heightened the number of inmates incarcerated for drug related offenses. The purpose of this quasi-experimental, archival, correlational descriptive study was to determine whether motivation changes during therapeutic community (TC) treatment among a group of incarcerated adult male offenders, as measured by differences in pre and post levels of motivation. The hypothesis that was tested was that there would be significant differences between levels of motivation as measured upon entry and discharge from treatment. The theoretical framework that guided the study was the stages of change theory. Data were collected from archived pre and post treatment Texas Christian University, Treatment Motivation scale (MOT) scores. The target population comprised adult males, who were incarcerated in the state of New Jersey between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2016, and had completed a TC program. A paired sample t test was completed, which indicated that there was a significant difference between levels of motivation from admission to discharge in the TC program. Discharge MOT scores for motivation were determined to be higher than admission scores, which answered the research question regarding levels of motivation change during a TC program. The study findings lend support to the utility of TC programs in changing offender behavior, thereby making inmates more productive members of society and strengthening public safety.

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