Gang membership and subsequent engagement into a drug free therapeutic community.
The purpose of the present study was to assess the relationship of history of gang involvement to engagement in Therapeutic Community (TC) treatment. Residents (N = 222) at two Daytop facilities completed a survey assessing sociodemographic characteristics, prior gang involvement and multiple aspects of TC functioning. Residents with prior gang involvement (21%) were younger and less educated than those without prior gang involvement. Although gang involved residents were more likely to achieve a high work role status in the program they scored lower on multiple indicators of engagement in treatment including acceptance of Daytop philosophy and TC clinical progress.
Widlitz
Michelle
M
New York University Medical Center, NY 10016, USA.
Dermatis
Helen
H
Galanter
Marc
M
Bunt
Gregory
G
D000328:Adult; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012112:Residential Facilities; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome