Relationship between Drug Treatment Engagement and Criminal Thinking Style among Drug-Using Offenders

Abstract

There has been considerable debate about the effectiveness of drug treatment in reducing offending and drug use, with limited support for the effectiveness of the UK Drug Intervention Programme to reduce offending through diversion into treatment. The current paper examines drug users diverted into treatment in one UK city to assess their treatment engagement and criminal thinking styles. There is an association between higher criminal thinking and both poorer engagement in treatment and worse client functioning. The key implication is that to address offending-prone behaviour as a determinant of ongoing drug use, it is essential that criminal thinking styles are addressed.