Robert L. Dunigan, Ph.D.
Brandeis University
Junior Investigator, Vulnerable Populations
Project Title: Determinants of Treatment Engagement and Time to Event of Recidivism for Young African-African American and Latino Males
"My goals are to explore theories and methodological approaches that are culturally relevant in explaining substance abuse and dependency for minority sub-groups. I hope to further develop the skills and knowledge that will allow me to effectively study these problems, to refine the available theoretical frameworks, and to consider how to develop effective policies and treatment strategies to address these issues."
Project Description
Young African-American and Latino males with a history of criminal justice involvement and substance abuse problems are at high risk for relapse and recidivism, yet treatment interventions that address these problems have been limited. Moreover, there is little evidence about the effectiveness, and cultural and social relevancy, of treatment practices administered pre-and post-release for the general prison population, and young African-American and Latino male offenders in particular.
Dunigan's study involves secondary data analyses to examine factors that predict whether young African-American and Latino male offenders receive substance abuse treatment during prison and post-release, and how treatment is associated with time to recidivism (re-arrest or re-incarceration) post-release. Dunigan includes subgroup comparisons of young African-American, Latino and Caucasian males with their older cohorts to better understand the interactions among race/ethnicity, age, substance abuse treatment and monitoring post release, and the relationships of all of these factors to outcomes.
He is using data from an existing de-identified dataset, created using probabilistic matching of Connecticut's Department of Correction files with data from Connecticut's Departments of Public Safety and Mental Health and Addiction Services Substance Abuse Treatment Information System.
The dataset includes all sentenced prisoners with moderate to serious substance use disorders who were released during fiscal year 2003, along with substance abuse treatment, Department of Correction's movement and arrests for fiscal years 2001-2005 for the same individuals.
The results may provide useful information to help justify the expenditure of additional resources to develop strategies and interventions to improve health and social outcomes for young African-American and Latino male offenders. Providing such interventions would be an important step in reducing the much greater societal costs associated with negative health and public safety consequences, along with the monetary expenditures associated with re-incarceration in lieu of offering substance abuse treatment for these populations.
Biography
Robert Dunigan, Ph.D., is a senior research associate at the Schneider Institute for Health Policy at Brandeis University. With 15 years experience in clinical social work, with particular expertise in the areas of treatment intervention and program development for individuals diagnosed with chronic mental illness and substance abuse problems, his research has focused on drug and alcohol treatment and prevention aimed at improving the quality of life and health service needs of marginalized groups and individuals.
He is also interested in conducting research, aimed at understanding barriers to participation in clinical studies for communities of color, to develop more effective recruitment and retention strategies, particularly for individuals not connected to formal health and social institutions.
Dunigan received his Ph.D. from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis, were he was a recipient of a predoctoral training grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Addiction.
