The impact of treatment on criminalized substance addicts.

The objective of this research is to evaluate the impact of a treatment program specialized with criminalized addicts. In all, 119 criminalized addicts were admitted to the experimental procedure (specialized treatment) while 30 were admitted to a comparison group (general treatment). Both groups were contacted at five, eight, and eleven month intervals following the onset of the treatment process. Results showed that both groups improved. Those admitted to the unspecialized treatment improved earlier (in the first five months) than clients referred to the specialized treatment facility, however, after eight months, the improvement was similar for both groups.