Coercion or Caregiving? Client and Caregivers’ Perspectives on Court Mandated Disulfiram Use

Involvement in treatment for intimate partner violence and abuse (IPV/A) perpetration is often limited to those who are arrested and convicted of domestic violence offenses. Consequently, the majority of research into partner abuse intervention programs (PAIPs; also known as batterer intervention programs [BIPs]) has utilized data from court-mandated participants despite the existence of voluntary programs. Therefore, little is known about the experiences of voluntary and non-court-mandated BIP/PAIP participants. Using an interpretive phenomenological analysis, this study sought to understand how participants perceived their lived experience in seeking help from a voluntary BIP/PAIP serving Latino men. Men volunteering for this study participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews ( N = 16). The findings reveal that the decision to engage in a BIP/PAIP voluntarily is process laden. Participants described the process as involving a breakdown in the health of their intimate relationship, reaching tipping points at which avoiding help was no longer an option, and locating specific information on where to seek treatment. The findings also reveal that once involved, most participants anticipated and desired to engage in the program long term. This study illuminates the many factors that may contribute to decision-making when men who have acted abusively seek help. Strategies for increasing voluntary BIP/PAIP participation may involve enhancing marketing of services or information for accessing services, and personal relationship building between facilitators and potential participants.

Download Full-text

An Ethicolegal Analysis of Involuntary Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1177/1073110520979383 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 48 (4) ◽

pp. 735-740

Author(s):

Farhad R. Udwadia ◽

Judy Illes

Keyword(s):

Police Officers ◽

Standard Of Care ◽

Opioid Use ◽

Ethical Concerns ◽

Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs ◽

The Usa ◽

The Law ◽

Court Mandated ◽

Ethical Critique

Supply-side interventions such as prescription drug monitoring programs, “pill mill” laws, and dispensing limits have done little to quell the burgeoning opioid crisis. An increasingly popular demand-side alternative to these measures – now adopted by 38 jurisdictions in the USA and 7 provinces in Canada — is court-mandated involuntary commitment and treatment. In Massachusetts, for example, Part I, Chapter 123, Section 35 of the state's General Laws allows physicians, spouses, relatives, and police officers to petition a court to involuntarily commit and treat a person whose alcohol or drug abuse poses a likelihood of serious harm. This paper explores the ethical underpinnings of this law as a case study for others. First, we highlight the procedural and substantive standards of Section 35 and evaluate the application of the law in practice, including the frequency with which it has been invoked and outcomes. We then use this background to inform an ethical critique of the law. Specifically, we argue that the infringement of autonomy and privacy associated with involuntary intervention under Section 35 is not currently justified on the grounds of a lack of evidenced benefits and a risk of significant of harm. Further ethical concerns also arise from a lack of standard of care provided under the Section 35 pathway. Based on this analysis, we advance four recommendations for change to mitigate these ethical shortcomings.

Download Full-text

Can Completers, Non-Completers, and Non-Starters of Community-Based Offending Behavior Programs be Differentiated by Internal Treatment Readiness Factors?

International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology ◽

10.1177/0306624x18813891 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 63 (7) ◽

pp. 1066-1081

Author(s):

Ruth M. Hatcher ◽

Anna L. I. Roberts

Keyword(s):

Self Efficacy ◽

Cognitive Skills ◽

Emotional Reactions ◽

Program Completion ◽

The Self ◽

Community Based ◽

Treatment Readiness ◽

Offending Behavior ◽

Court Mandated

This research aimed to determine whether completers, non-completers, and non-starters of community-based offending behavior programs could be differentiated by their levels of internal “treatment readiness.” The Corrections Victoria Treatment Readiness Questionnaire (CVTRQ) measures offenders’ Attitudes and Motivation, Emotional Reactions, Offending Beliefs, and Efficacy which, according to the Multifactor Offender Readiness Model (MORM), are internal dimensions of an offender’s readiness to engage with treatment. Participants were offenders who had been court-mandated to attend a community-based cognitive skills offending behavior program. There were no significant differences between groups in respect of the CVTRQ total score. After controlling for risk of reconviction, however, the Self Efficacy construct differentiated program non-starters from program completers, while the Emotional Reactions construct differentiated program non-completers from program completers. In conclusion, the CVTRQ failed to differentiate program completion groups with the same success as elsewhere.

Download Full-text

Court Dispositions and Rearrest for Intimate Assault

Crime & Delinquency ◽

10.1177/0011128704266422 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 51 (1) ◽

pp. 75-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

John Wooldredge ◽

Amy Thistlethwaite

Keyword(s):

Substance Abuse ◽

Domestic Violence ◽

Residential Stability ◽

Mandated Treatment ◽

Entire Sample ◽

Offender Characteristics ◽

Court Mandated ◽

Court Dispositions ◽

Incidence Prevalence ◽

Hamilton County

Researchers examining court dispositions and domestic violence recidivism have argued that disposition effectiveness varies by offender characteristics. We extended this research with analyses of 3,662persons arrested for misdemeanor assaults on intimates in Hamilton County, Ohio. The incidence, prevalence, and time to rearrest are examined for arrestees with no filed charges, subsequently dropped charges, court-mandated treatment, probation, jail, and split sentences. No filed charges and probation correspond with significant differences in all outcomes across the entire sample. Moreover, every disposition coincides with differences in rearrest for particular subgroups of arrestees (distinguished by violent histories, substance abuse, cohabitation, race, education, residential stability, and characteristics of neighborhood populations).

Download Full-text