Journal of Law and Criminal Justice

Validating a Screening Instrument for Co-Occurring Disorders in a Sample of Jail Inmates
Danielle Marie Carkin Ph.D; Paul E. Tracy Ph.D.

Abstract
Research indicates that prisoner reentry is among the pressing issues facing the criminal justice system. Research also shows that successful reentry is greatly diminished by the presence of co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders (COD). Individuals with CODs have long criminal histories and may be under the influence of the disorders at the time of the crime. Effective screening of CODs is necessary for both institutional treatment and community-based services during reentry. This research tests the construct validity of the Comprehensive Addictions and Psychological Evaluation (CAAPE) instrument using a pre-test, post-test experimental design with 170 inmates from a county jail who participated in a reentry program. Multiple criminal history measures served as the dependent variables and analyses consisted of Poisson and logistic regression models. The results showed that the subscales of the CAAPE are valid screening tools for identifying CODs and that these disorders were significantly related to prior criminal history and recidivism after reentry.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jlcj.v6n1a2