Therapeutic community treatment of an inmate population with substance use disorders: Post-release trends in re-arrest, re-incarceration, and drug misuse relapse

This systematic literature review maps the evidence for the effectiveness of the therapeutic community interventions (TCI) in reducing re-arrest, re-incarceration or drug misuse following release from prison, including the extent to which these effects are retained over time. The databases searched for the review included PsychINFO, Medline and Scopus and reference lists from relevant articles published between 2007 and 2014. Only quantitative studies that examined the effectiveness of TCI for a prisoner population with drug dependence at the time of initial incarceration were considered. Fourteen studies were identified for inclusion in the review. Three-quarters of the studies reported TCI were effective in reducing rates of re-incarceration. About 70% of studies that examined follow-up rates of drug misuse relapse found TCI effective in reducing rates of drug misuse amongst participants. TCI participation reduced re-arrests events in 55% of the studies. Results suggest TCI effective in the short-term rather than longer term for reducing rates of re-incarceration among participants, and to a slightly lesser extent, drug misuse relapse.