Thisstudy focuses on how the Self-Reported drug use scores of 142 prolific drugoffenders and other priority offender status who tested positive for heroin orcocaine during their arrest, is dependent on the type of session and type oftherapy provided to them. Participants were randomly allocated into thedifferent levels of type of session that included group and individual, andtype of therapy that included CBT and MI, 12-Step Programme and Standard Careor Treatment as Usual. The participants were asked to fill in log books torecord the scores and were required to attend their sessions for a period of 12months. A two-tailed hypothesis was conducted. The null hypothesis stated that, there will not be a significant difference in Self-Reported drug use scoresamong the 3 different drug treatment groups. The experimental hypothesis statedthat there will be a difference in the self-reported drug use scores betweenthe three types of treatments (CBT with MI, 12 Step Programme and StandardCare). The study also examined whether there is a significant interactioneffect among the type of session and type of therapy. After computing theresults the null hypothesis was rejected and a significant interaction effectwas found between the type of therapy and type of session.
Thetwo drugs that are generally identified with these crime-spree situations are cocaineor crack and opium that consist of heroin or morphine (LeBoutillier & Love, 2010). 29% of drug users use cocaine, which is the third most widely usedillegal drug in the United Kingdom (Mann, 2014). Among hard drugs the generalperception of Britons is that they consider heroin to be the most harmful to healthfollowed by crack, crystal meth and cocaine. Amid heroin users, crime relatedactivity levels are high with an estimate of the social cost of drug-relatedcrime being between £65, 000-100, 000 per user entailing a cumulative cost amidstall heroin users in the England and Wales to be in the range of £3.
5 to 10. 5billion (Bryan, Bono, & Pudney, 2013). Research reveals that aboutthree-quarters of acquisitive crime among heroin users is attributable to druguse, but essentially no violent crime (Bryan, Bono, & Pudney, 2013). It wasreported that the amount of property crime was high in heroin users but therewas no compelling indication of any violent crimes being committed by theseusers. (Bryan, Bono, & Pudney, 2013). However, this study does not takeinto account the level of acquisitive crime that would have been committed bythese drug users or suppliers if they had not been on drugs and hence that isan unknown.
MostBritons aged 16-24 believe that high levels of street crime are directly orindirectly related to the use to drugs, linking 50% of all street crimes todrugs, and that decriminalisation of these would result in lesser crime rates(Mann, 2014). However, reports suggest that a huge mass (95%) of the drug usersdenied committing a crime to get these drugs. Inthe year 2009, self-reported drug use displayed that cannabis was the mostfrequently used drug (8. 9%), after which there was cocaine (2. 4%), ecstasy(1.
6%), amphetamine (1. 3%), amyl nitrate (1. 2%), and hallucinogens (1. 1%) (LeBoutillier & Love, 2010). CognitiveBehavioural Therapy or CBT is a form of therapy that targets an individual’sattitude and thought process to develop a pattern which helps to cope with thedistress. The change in cognition helps to reduce symptoms and is generally ashort-term solution but improved cognitive functioning is a long-term aspect tothis method of therapy (Gaudiano, 2008). Motivational Interviewing or MI is the form oftherapy where the client is motivated by the counsellor who supports them andhelps them reflect up on their behaviour. CBT and MI share some common aspectslike empathy and collaboration between the client and counsellor.
MI can be appliedtogether with CBT, which is theory based, to make it more effective (Carter, 2011). The12 Step Programme is a type of therapy where the individuals at first recognizethat there is a problem and try to address the issue by taking part in 12 stepsor activities and following general guidelines during the recovery process (Donovan, Ingalsbe, Benbow, & Daley, 2013). Findingsreport that individuals who attend the meetings routinely have higher rates ofcontinence as compared to those do not attend the meetings often. TheRAPt (Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust) offers a paradigm ofabstinence based treatment which has been established from the 12 Stepprogramme in nine prisons in the United Kingdom. Graduates from the RAPt haveshown significant and constant minimization of drug use and offences and theirrate of reconviction was also lower that the predicted rate (McSweeney, Turnbull, & Hough, 2008). Ina study conducted by Maude-Griffin et al.
, (1998) to check whether CBT was moreeffective than the 12 Step facilitation for reducing the amount of cocaineabuse in adults, participants were randomly allocated to CBT or the 12 Stepfacilitation. They received one individual counselling session and three grouptherapy sessions for a total of 12 weeks. Abstinence was established as sobrietyfrom the use of cocaine for 30 days and a drug free urine sample.
Theparticipants of this study on an average, took part in 5 out of 12 individualtherapy sessions and 14 out of 36 group sessions, which shows that clienteffort is required even in accord to the most effective treatment method(Palinkas, 1999). The results showed that there were more participants whoattained four weeks of abstinence from the CBT type of treatment as compared tothose who took part in the 12 Step facilitation. It was also found that at eachpoint of the assessment, participants who took CBT were more abstinent asopposed to those who underwent the 12 Step facilitation (Maude-Griffin et al., 1998). Anotherstudy conducted by Crits-Christoph et al., 1999, included patients who werecocaine dependent.
The participants were randomly designated into fourcategories individual drug counselling plus group drug counselling, group drugcounselling plus cognitive therapy, group drug counselling plussupport-expressive therapy or just group drug counselling. Reports were takenduring treatment every month and at 9 and 12 months after baseline. The resultsreported that the most effective treatment on the Addiction Severity Index-DrugUse Composite score was individual drug counselling plus group drug counselling(Crits-Christoph, Siqueland, , 1999). This shows that the combination of individual and group setting administerseffective reduction in cocaine users. Thesereports suggest that there is a gap in research conducted regarding group vsindividual therapy sessions among cocaine and heroin users. Thus, the present study aims to compare the outcome of Self-Reported drug usagescores among participants taking cocaine and heroin in the group as well asindividual type of session. It also looks at the types of treatments like CognitiveBehavioural Therapy (CBT) with Motivational Interviewing (MI), 12 StepProgramme and Standard Care or Treatment as Usual and aims to establish whichis more effective among these drug users. It is also examined whether there isa significant interaction effect among the type of session and type of therapy.
The null hypothesis states that there will not be a significant difference inSelf-Reported drug use scores among the 3 different drug treatment groups. Theexperimental hypothesis states that there will be a difference in theself-reported drug use scores between the three types of treatments (CBT withMI, 12 Step Programme and Standard Care).
