英文摘要 |
Background: The drug abuse prevention policy in Taiwan has been implemented by the central government at the local government level since June 2006. However, whether recidivism rates are reduced is unknown. Aims: To estimate the recidivism rate by linking the list of released drug offenders from Taoyuan Drug Abuse Prevention Center (DAPC) with arrest records in Taoyuan and nationwide prisoner in-out records. Materials and method: (1) Census: All released drug offenders reported to Taoyuan DAPC from October 2006 to February 2008. The recidivism rate was based on the Taoyuan police arrest records up to Sept., 2008. (2) Sampling: A stratified systematic sample was made for released drug offenders who were able to contact (released drug offenders him/her-self or his/her family members) by Taoyuan DAPC to find out the amount of counseling service received. Recidivism was based on the police arrest records in Taoyuan (up to December, 2009) and nationwide prisoner in-out records (up to May, 2011).Results: (1) Census: There were 1745 released drug offenders reported to Taoyuan DAPC . 1,176 (67.4%) were able to contact (including released drug offenders or family members). The overall 2-year recidivism rate was 21.0% (95%CI=19.1%-22.9%). There was no statistically significant difference in the recidivism rate between those who were contacted and those who were not contacted by Taoyuan DAPC. (2) Sampling: Among the 1176 drug offenders of whom we were able to contact the offender him/herself or a family member, 612 were sampled. A total of 272 (44.4%) drug offenders were contacted directly. 131 (21.4%) were contacted once, 79 (12.9%) twice, and 130 (21.2%) three or more times. The overall 3.2 year recidivism rate was 50.0%, with a 95% CI between 46.0% and 54.0%. The recidivism rate was the highest for those who we failed contact (58.5%), followed by those who were contacted once or twice (54.2%, 50.6%), and was the lowest among those who were contacted three or more times (27.7%) (p<.0001). The recidivism rate was higher for those who self-reported having a drug problem (58.0%), in comparison to those who did not (48.2%). Males had a higher recidivism rate(52.1%) than did females (39.0%). Cox’s proportional hazards model reveals that number of times contacted, gender, and self-report having a drug problem were significantly associated with recidivism rate. The hazard ratios of recidivism for those who we fail contact directly, for those who were contacted once and those were contacted twice, were 3.8, 2.8 and 2.4, respectively, when compared with those who were contact three or more times. The hazard ratio of recidivism was 1.5 for those who self-reported having a drug problem when compared with those who did not. The hazard ratio of recidivism was 1.5 for male offenders when compared with female offenders. Conclusions: The DAPC was able to contact 67.4% of released drug offenders (the offender him/her-self or a family member). However, we were only able to contact 37% of the offenders directly. The 2-year recidivism rate (based on Taoyuan police arrested records) was 21%. The 3.2-year recidivism rate (based on Taoyuan police arrest records and nationwide prisoner in-out records) was 50% for those who we were able to contact the offender him/her-self or a family member. The recidivism rate decreased with the frequency of direct contact with the offenders. We suggest that the DAPC should continue counseling released drug offenders. |