Adaptability of contingency management in justice settings: survey findings on attitudes toward using rewards

Abstract

Contingency management (CM) is widely recognized as an evidence-based practice, but it is not widely used in either treatment settings or justice settings. CM is perceived as adaptable in justice settings given the natural inclination to use contingencies to improve compliance to desired behaviors. In the Justice Steps implementation study, 5 federal district court jurisdictions agreed to consider implementing CM in specialized problem-solving courts or probation settings. A baseline survey (N = 186) examined the acceptance and feasibility of using rewards as a tool to manage offender compliance. The results of the survey revealed that most of the respondents believe that rewards are acceptable, with little difference between social and material rewards. Survey findings also showed that female justice workers and those who were not probation officers were more accepting of material rewards than their counterparts. Findings are consistent with prior research in drug treatment settings where there is little concern about using rewards.