title: Prevalence and nature of criminal offending in a national sample of veterans in VA substance use treatment prior to the Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom conflicts.
abstract: This study evaluated the prevalence and types of criminal arrest among 99,512 male veterans in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment across 150 VA facilities from 1998 to 2001. Participants were assessed with the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), which includes detailed information about lifetime criminal activity. A majority of the patients (58.2%) had three or more previous arrests, with 46.0% reporting one or more criminal convictions. Criminal arrests were frequent and varied. A majority of patients (69.3%) had at least one arrest that was not due to drug possession, drug sale, or intoxication. Nearly 24% reported at least one arrest for a violent crime. Patterns of arrest for specific crimes varied across SUD diagnostic categories. Screening for specific types of offending is informative and viable. Existing VA SUD treatment is a potentially underrecognized point of intervention for justice involvement among veterans.
authors.affiliation: Palo Alto University.
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Weaver
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Care Evaluation, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.
authors.forename: Jodie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Trafton
authors.affiliation: ational Center for PTSD, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0996-4212
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kimerling
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Care Evaluation, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Timko
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Care Evaluation, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moos
mesh_terms: D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003415:Crime / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D035846:Law Enforcement; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014728:Veterans / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data