Award Date

1-1-2007

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Committee Member

Douglas P. Ferraro

Number of Pages

155

Abstract

Individuals with both a mental illness and substance use disorder (i.e., dual diagnoses) are over represented and underserved in state prisons. Without treatment, inmates with dual diagnoses (DD) are at an increased risk for a variety of negative outcomes including re-incarceration. Unfortunately, few empirically supported prison-based treatment programs are designed to meet the special needs of these inmates. Existing prison-based programs are generally limited to one treatment approach despite the heterogeneity among offenders with DD. Thus, it has been recommended that a range of services should be developed and offered in prisons to meet the varying needs of inmates with DD. The present study represented an effort to contribute to the development and delivery of specialized, empirically-supported, prison-based treatment programs for inmates with DD. A community-based treatment manual was modified to address the needs of an institutionalized, offender sample. Modifications included: (a) adding a component that addressed DD offenders' mental health criminogenic need; and (b) deleting components that were irrelevant, inappropriate, or impractical for institutionalized offenders. This modified manual is referred to as the Substance Abuse Management Module-for Offenders (SAMM-O). The aims of the present study were to determine the effectiveness of SAMM-O in: (a) engaging inmates with DD in treatment, (b) decreasing depression symptoms, and (c) increasing drug abstinence-related knowledge and skills. To accomplish these aims, a non-controlled trial of SAMM-O with a pre- post-test design was conducted over 8-weeks with 25 inmates with DD at a Western priSon Results indicated that inmates were engaged in the treatment groups. Moreover, depression symptomology significantly decreased, and drug abstinence-related knowledge and skills significantly increased, from pre- to post-treatment assessment.

Keywords

Dual; Dual Diagnosis; Effectiveness; Evaluating; Inmates; Inmates; Manualized; Mental Illness; Prison; Substance Abuse; Treatment Manual

Controlled Subject

Clinical psychology; Criminology

File Format

pdf

File Size

4577.28 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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