Violent offenders in drug court

Drug courts are slowly beginning to expand their admission criteria to incl ude more chronic and serious offenders since traditional probation and inca rceration have failed to prevent drug use and crime. Drug courts have moved from providing diversion programs for first-time offenders charged with dr ug possession to developing tracks for more complex clients. Many of these new drug court participants have extensive criminal histories, including hi stories of violent crime. Drug court decision-makers thus confront the diff iculty of balancing the needs of treatment versus corrections by attempting to target offenders whose criminal histories suggest that their candidacy in a drug court would not pose a risk to public safety. To date, little is known about whether drug courts are appropriate for offenders with lengthy criminal histories that often include violence. The research presented here explores correlates of drug court graduation for seriously crime-involved offenders, most of whom have a history of violence.