ABSTRACT

Drug courts are an alternative to incarceration for individuals who have substance use disorders and nonviolent arrests, and these programs can be an avenue to recovery for those who have opioid use disorders. This qualitative study used a focus group methodology to explore drug court team members’ thoughts, opinions, and lived experiences related to how the program treats opioid use disorders and the role of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in programming. The drug court team had favorable views toward MAT and reported that participants who received MAT experienced many positive outcomes. Additionally, members of the drug court team often had to educate participants on MAT, as some participants had inaccurate information and beliefs about MAT that were based on myths. The drug court team also candidly discussed their paradigm shift from not allowing MAT to incorporating MAT into programming. Implications for drug court practice and future research are discussed.

摘要

对于患有药物滥用和非暴力逮捕的人，毒品法庭可以代替监禁，对于患有阿片类药物滥用的人来说，这些计划可以成为康复的途径。这项定性研究使用焦点小组方法来探索药物法庭小组成员的想法，观点和与该计划如何治疗阿片类药物使用障碍以及药物辅助治疗（MAT）在计划中的作用有关的生活经验。药物法庭团队对MAT持积极态度，并报告说接受MAT的参与者经历了许多积极的结果。此外，毒品法庭成员经常必须对参加者进行MAT教育，因为有些参加者对神话的理解和对MAT的认识不准确。毒品法庭小组还坦诚地讨论了他们从不允许MAT到将MAT纳入编程的范式转变。讨论了对毒品法庭实践和未来研究的影响。