Recovery-oriented perceptions as predictors of reincarceration.
The present prospective study explored whether a specific class of client subjective assessments predicts later recovery. Measures of client perceptions of self-change in substance abusers were obtained a year after release from a prison-based therapeutic community. Analyses assessed the contribution of these perceptions-along with motivation, age, and risk index of social deviancy-in predicting reincarceration at 3-year follow-up. Results showed that two factors (Individual Growth and Socialization) significantly differentiated reincarceration and nonreincarceration at 1-year postrelease and significantly predicted reincarceration at 3-year follow-up. Findings underscore the relevance of perceptions of self-change early in recovery to later recovery behaviors. Research on recovery factors needs a uniform assessment protocol, which organizes client perceptions, beliefs, and attributions in accordance with a recovery stage framework.
De Leon
George
G
National Development and Research Institutes, New York, NY 10010, USA. deleon@ndri.org
Melnick
Gerald
G
Cao
Yan
Y
Wexler
Harry K
HK
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003415:Crime; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011330:Prisons; D011594:Psychometrics; D012008:Recurrence; D012306:Risk; D012951:Socialization; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*