Adolescence, a transition between childhood and adulthood is viewed as a phase of increased decision making, pressure and understanding one's self. In search of their identity, adolescents experienced peer pressures and tend to engage in social problems such as drug abuse which leads them to believe in expressing their inner selves. Research on…

The purpose of this study was to identify key features associated with the successful transition from prison to community life of ex-offending African American and Latino males who have not recidivated in 3 years or more. To better understand and to identify these factors, I conducted 12 in-depth, semi-structured interviews between January 2015…

Background: Adolescent juvenile offenders are at high risk for problems associated with drug use, including polysubstance use (i.e., use of a variety of drugs). The combination of juvenile offending and polysubstance use presents a significant public and child health concern. Objective: This study explored polysubstance use among a sample of youth…

The current study employs dominance analysis to assess the relative importance of three constructs--hostility, impulsiveness, and emotional dysregulation (difficulties managing one's emotions when experiencing negative emotion or distress)--in explaining psychological, physical, and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration by men…

The present report is an intent-to-treat analysis involving secondary data drawn from the first randomized clinical trial of prison-initiated methadone in the United States. This study examined predictors of treatment entry and completion in prison. A sample of 211 adult male prerelease inmates with preincarceration heroin dependence were randomly…

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which drug-involved men who perpetrate male-to-female intimate partner violence (IPV) are engaged with various formal service systems as well as whether adherence to traditional male ideologies--thought to drive perpetration of male-to-female IPV--affects help-seeking behavior. This study also…

Male prison rape and sexual assaults remains a serious and sensitive issue in many countries. Human rights groups claim that sexual assaults among male prisoners have reached pandemic proportions and need to be stopped. Researchers for many years have studied the causes of male sexual assault in prison and offered numerous recommendations on its…

Objective: To qualitatively explore how treatment-involved youth retrospectively contextualize relapse from substance use. Methods: Fourteen focus groups were conducted with 118 youth (78.3% male; 66.1% Latino) enrolled in participating substance abuse treatment programs (4 young adult and 10 adolescent) throughout Los Angeles County. Transcripts…

Despite the broad recognition in social work that services are more effective when they are tailored to individual client needs, we have only limited evidence of the impact that services matched to client needs have on treatment outcomes. This study examines gender differences in the impact of matched services, access services, and…

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) recently has been identified as a potential cognitive vulnerability underlying substance use problems, with some evidence specifically indicating its relevance to heroin. Focusing on the potential utility of interventions centered on increasing willingness to have anxiety-related sensations reduce vulnerability for relapse…