Psychosocial functioning of drug treatment court clients : a study of the prosecutor's files in Ghent

Purpose – Problem solving courts are a result of the therapeutic jurisprudence movement. Drug treatment courts (DTCs), for instance, aim to divert substance using offenders away from the criminal justice system (CJS) to (drug) treatment services. DTCs are associated with reduced criminal offending and substance use. Psychosocial outcomes of DTCs, such as employment, health and family relations, received only little attention. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This paper focuses on the outcomes regarding substance use and psychosocial variables of a Belgian DTC situated in the Ghent region, which were investigated by a naturalistic evaluation study with a pre- post-design using judicial files. Findings – The results show that Ghent DTC clients were diverted to drug treatment and financial counselling services. Next the Ghent DTC produced beneficial outcomes regarding employment. Contrary to criminal offending (De Keulenaer and Thomaes, 2013), substance use was not significantly reduced in the Ghent DTC sample. Yet more compliance with opioid maintenance treatment was observed. Information on more client centred outcomes such as health and social relations was lacking, precluding a full outcome measurement of psychosocial variables. Research limitations/implications – Future DTC studies should address more client centreed outcomes by gathering information through DTC clients and treatment services instead of solely relying on judicial data sources. In addition, DTCs should develop a clear and uniform registration system regarding these outcomes. Originality/value – Since the therapeutic jurisprudence movement continues to expand, discussion regarding the roles and tasks of the CJS as well as treatment and counselling services is vital. Each actor should maintain its own role and task, regarding monitoring and substantive work, to insure a “problem solving approach” that is in line with the recovery philosophy. </jats:sec

The impact of drug treatment courts on recovery: a systematic review

Introduction. Earlier reviews regarding the effectiveness of Drug Treatment Courts (DTCs) reported a reduction in reoffending and substance use. Although substance users suffer from other difficulties than drug use and judicial issues, none of these reviews focused on outcomes or effects of DTCs on drug-related life domains, such as social relationships, employment, or health. Therefor, the present paper aims to review the impact of adult DTCs on substance use and drug-related life domains. Method. Primary studies were systematically searched in Web of Knowledge. Observational and controlled evaluation studies of adult DTCs were considered eligible if substance use and/or drug-related life domains were measured. Results. Moderately positive results were found with respect to within-program substance use. Few studies used drug-related life domains as an outcome measure and most of them yielded no effects. Employment and family relations ameliorated when specific interventions were used. Discussion. DTCs yield beneficial outcomes and effects regarding within-program substance use. However, evidence regarding the impact of DTCs on post-program drug and alcohol use and on other drug-related life domains is scarce. These life domains and thus QoL possibly can be improved by DTCs if specifically targeted. Future research is warranted

Screening of Shallow Groundwater in Aceh Besar and Banda Aceh Districts for Contamination with Heavy Metals

Tsunami devastated many water infrastructures including the wells. Tsunami areas, land use (rural and urban areas) and land management (agriculture land and home garden) can be leading heavy metals in water quality. The purpose of this research is to investigate how the Tsunami rehabilitation efforts affected the water quality of shallow groundwater by measuring the count of heavy metals (mercury, cadmium and lead by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer during the rainy and dry season. Forty-eight water samples\u27 of wells were collected to determine shallow groundwater from August 2007 to December 2007. The study includes interviews with the owners of the water facilities and sanitary inspection of shallow groundwater wells. The results show the presence Hg and most of Cd in well water are still below the regulatory acceptable limit by Ministry of Health R.I (2002). On the other hand, lead exceeds the regulatory acceptable limi

Suïcide in de Belgische gevangenissen, 2000–2016

Aan de hand van een dossierstudie werden alle (gedocumenteerde) suïcides onderzocht die in de Belgische gevangenissen plaatsvonden over de periode 2000–2016. Gedurende dit 17-jarig tijdsbestek overleden in België 794 gedetineerden tijdens hun detentie. Eén derde (33%) van deze overlijdens betroffen suïcides—tussen 2000 en 2016 pleegden 262 individuen suïcide in detentie, wat overeenstemt met gemiddeld 15.4 suïcides per jaar of meer dan één suïcide per maand. Voor de bestudeerde periode noteren we, na extrapolatie, een gemiddelde van 156.2 suïcides per 100,000 gedetineerden, wat ruwweg acht maal hoger ligt ten opzichte van het suïcidecijfer in de algemene Belgische bevolking over diezelfde periode. Een analyse van alle suïcides toont aan dat het profiel van de gedetineerde die suïcide pleegt in detentie een alleenstaande man van 37 jaar is met de Belgische nationaliteit. Het percentage gedetineerden met een psychiatrische stoornis en een voorgaande suïcidepoging is sterk verhoogd onder diegenen die suïcide pleegden in detentie. Achttien procent van alle suïcides betroffen personen met het statuut van internering. De periode kort na opsluiting, een transfer naar een andere gevangenis en justitiële gebeurtenissen vormen risicoperiodes voor suïcide. Het merendeel van de suïcides vond plaats op de eigen cel van de gedetineerde, in afwezigheid van een celgenoot, door middel van verhanging. Opmerkelijk is dat 11% van alle suïcides plaatsvonden in een veiligheids- of isolatiecel, en dat 40% van alle gedetineerden op het moment van de suïcide onder een maatregel van verhoogd toezicht waren geplaatst. De bevindingen van de huidige studie bieden belangrijke inzichten voor de preventie van suïcide in de Belgische gevangenissen en vormen een eerste aanzet voor de ontwikkeling van een suïcidepreventiebeleid op nationaal niveau

Suïcide bij gedetineerden in België : een dossierstudie

Reducing the number of suicides in prison has been highlighted as an international priority. To date, however, studies examining prison suicides in Belgium are lacking. Therefore, adopting a retrospective record-based approach, we sought to investigate all suicides occurring in the whole Belgian prison estate during a 17-year period. The results underline the need for suicide prevention among prisoners in Belgium, and echo prior findings that restrictive preventive measures should be combined with psychosocial interventions in order to address the causes of prisoners being suicidal. Such strategies are ideally embedded within a comprehensive suicide prevention policy on a national level