Attitudes toward compulsory substance abuse treatment: a comparison of thepublic, conselors, probationers and judges' views

Attitudes toward compulsory treatment for alcohol and other drug abuse were compared among a representative sample drawn from the general public (N = 994) and convenience samples of substance abuse counselors (N = 700), proba tioners (N = 35) and judges (N = 89). All respondents believed that compuls ory substance abuse treatment is (a) less effective than voluntary treatmen t and (b) most justified only for individuals whose substance use was assoc iated with serious crimes and impaired job performance. In addition, the ge neral public reported significantly higher support for compulsory treatment and expected forced treatment to help significantly more individuals, comp ared to probationers and substance abuse counselors. Judges and the general public were significantly less likely to respect client choices about whet her or not to engage in treatment compared to probationers and substance ab use counsellors. These results suggest that broad implementation of compuls ory substance abuse treatment policies and programs would not be uniformly supported across key stakeholders. Implications of the findings for substan ce abuse policy, programming and theory are discussed.