05/07/2024
By Karen Mullins
The School of Criminology and Justice Studies is proud to announce a Dissertation Defense by Allison E. Butterfield entitled, "Exploring substance use disorder training among probation officers, and the impact of stigmatizing labels on approaches to technical probation violations."
Friday, May 17
12:30 p.m.
HSSB room 431
Committee
- Melissa Morabito Committee Chair, Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Pauline Brennan, Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Ronald Corbett, Adjunct Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Kimberly Kras, Associate Professor San Diego State University
Abstract
Probationers with substance use disorders (SUDS) face outcomes that are generally worse than those of their non-addicted counterparts. Technical violations are one of the primary drivers of failure on probation, and/or incarceration and they are often related to ongoing substance use. Probation officers working with probationers with SUDS frequently have discretion in case management recommendations including whether to file a technical violation. Little is known, however, about their decision-making process and how it might be shaped by education and training about substance use disorders. Research of related disorders such as mental illness suggests that education and training among service providers can reduce stigma.
To fill this gap in the literature, this study uses an exploratory survey of probation and parole officers in the United States that includes previously validated measures from law enforcement, mental health, and probation to probe attitudes among probation officers about substance use, and the impact of SUDs education and training on approaches to substance related technical violations. Findings suggest that while the amount of education and training in SUDs among probation officers is limited, respondents’ recommendations for SUDs related technical probation violations were still primarily treatment oriented with some variation by age.