Motivation as a predictor of therapeutic engagement in mandated residential substance abuse treatment

Studies of community-based substance abuse treatment indicate that motivation for treatment is critical for retaining clients in the program and for their becoming therapeutically engaged in the recovery process. Relatively little work, however, has examined the effect of motivation on therapeutic engagement in criminal justice settings. Baseline and during-treatment data were collected prospectively from 419 probationers remanded to a 6-month modified therapeutic community. Findings showed that desire for help and treatment readiness were associated with indicators of therapeutic engagement even after statistically controlling for additional factors that could have confounded these relationships. Targeted readiness and induction interventions are therefore recommended for offenders with low motivation who are remanded to treatment in correctional settings.