Examinations of Procedural Justice and Treatment Satisfaction in Veterans Treatment Court

• In Event: Exploring the Veterans Treatment Court Experience: Collateral Consequences, Treatment Satisfaction, Procedural Justice, and Legitimacy

Abstract

Of all the publicly funded responses to the intertwined problems of crime, mental health,
trauma, and substance abuse among veterans, the most recent programmatic innovation has been the rapid rise and diffusion of the veterans treatment court (VTC). The general mission and operation of the VTC are in line with that of other specialized courts: divert eligible offenders from the traditional criminal justice system to nontraditional channels of justice and mandate appropriate treatment and services (e.g., mental health and substance abuse treatment, housing services). This paper presents the findings from a qualitative analysis of a larger project studying VTC participant’s views of programmatic features of the court that were useful to their recovery. More specifically, these interview items sought to elicit responses related to how the veterans felt they were treated by the court, how appropriate the mental health and substance abuse treatment services received were for their particular circumstances, and their opinions of any necessary program improvements.

Authors

• Richard Hartley, University of Texas at San Antonio

• Julie Baldwin, Missouri State University