Drug courts and contingency management

Abstract

Drug courts have become an increasingly popular response to the increased burden placed on the criminal justice system by substance abuse. However, evaluation findings have been less than consistent with respect to the ability of drug courts to have the desired impact on drug use and criminal behavior. This paper reviews the literature describing the growth, operations, and evaluations of drug courts. It concludes that, contrary to most "models" drug courts emphasize punishment (e.g., graduated sanctions) and make limited positive, or at least inconsistent, use of reinforcement to promote behavior change and abstinence from drug use. Contingency management techniques that involve the systematic application of reinforcement based on the performance of specified behaviors are presented and reviewed. The success of this model in promoting pro-social behavior and abstinence from illicit drug use suggests that drug courts could benefit substantially from the integration of contingency management-based interventions.