Reintegrative shaming and recidivism risks in drug court: Explanations forsome unexpected findings

Braithwaite's (1989) theory of reintegrative shaming has been increasingly used to explain how social control efforts may result in both conformity an d deviance. Using this theory as an interpretive framework, this study exam ines the relative effectiveness of a specialized drug court in reducing rec idivism risks. Contrary to expectations based on its structural similarity to the principles of reintegrative shaming the authors find that risks of r ecidivism for drug court participants are significantly higher than compara ble offenders processed outside drug court. Field observations and a more d etailed examination of daily practices explain these unexpected findings by revealing that the drug court is actually more stigmatizing than conventio nal courts and is not reintegrative enough in its orientation toward punish ment. The results of this study are then discussed in terms of their implic ations for further research.