Are Drug Treatment Programs in Prison Effective in Reducing Recidivism Rates?

Much of the United States prison population consists of offenders who have some sort of substance abuse problem. There are now substance abuse treatment programs that are offered in prisons to help rehabilitate these offenders in hopes that they will not commit further crimes once they are released into the community. The question is, are these drug treatment programs offered in prison effective in reducing recidivism rates? The proposed study involving therapeutic drug treatment communities in 20 different prisons can help determine this. Individuals chosen to participate in the drug treatment program within the prison will be compared to another group of inmates who also have a drug abuse problem but were not chosen to receive treatment. Subsequent to their release from prison they will have follow up periods in given intervals to see if any of them recidivated. This data will help determine if there was a difference between the two groups in terms of their recidivism rates