Changes in Students’ Attitudes towards Substance Use and Treatment: A Mixed Method Inquiry on Experiential Learning Tactics

Abstract

Experiential learning is a valuable tool to increase students’ understanding of complex phenomena we encounter in criminal justice classrooms. This study uses a mixed methods research design to explore the impact of short-term experiential learning tactics in an upper-division course on substance use and treatment. Students were asked to attend a lecture given by an individual who has engaged in drug use and then either volunteer in a treatment-related facility or conduct interviews on drug-related topics. Reflection papers on these experiences from 21 participating students form the qualitative portion of this study. To measure the impact quantitatively, two validated surveys on attitudes towards drug use and harm reduction were completed by the students at the beginning and at the end of the semester. Findings from both data sources are integrated to provide a holistic understanding of how the experiential learning tactics impacted students’ views towards substance use and harm reduction. Our results suggest that the tactics helped students address some of their preconceived notions about harm reduction, drugs, and those who use them, as well as enhanced the course material. We conclude with a discussion focused on practical implications, limitations, and suggestions for future directions.

Keywords:

• Experiential learning
• substance use
• mixed methods

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Includes individuals over the age of 12 years old (see SAMHSA, 2020).

2 As previously noted, medical students visited 12-step programs as a part of their curriculum (Kastenholz & Agarwal, 2016; Samuels et al., 2020); nonetheless, their participation consisted of observation only, so it could not be considered a service learning activity. Additionally, they were not criminal justice students.

3 As such, the university’s Institutional Review Board deemed this project exempt.

4 The surveys and experiential learning tactics will be explained in detail in the next section on the quantitative and qualitative components of this study.

5 For full transparency, to distinguish between responses from students who completed different experiences, those who participated in service learning have an abbreviation SL before their respondent number (e.g., Student SL7), and those who chose the alternative assignment have an abbreviation AA before their respective number (e.g., Student AA8).

6 For brevity's sake, please refer to Chappel et al. (1985) factor loadings.

7 “Harm reduction is a proactive and evidence-based approach to reduce the negative personal and public health impacts of behavior associated with alcohol and other substance use at both the individual and community levels” (SAMSHA, n.d.).

8 The purpose of the task was described as follows in the syllabus: “Service and experiential learning can help you tremendously in multiple ways. First, you will establish a tie with an organization that can allow you to network, which can help you upon entering the job market. Second, by volunteering your time, you will also gain hands-on experience, which can provide you with real world situations that may not be covered in our readings. This exercise is also designed to improve your writing skills. Finally, and most importantly, you will help someone through your learning.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tereza Trejbalová

Tereza Trejbalová, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University. Her research interests include predicting recidivism and institutional misconduct of different populations (e.g., individuals on death row, system-impacted women, individuals with severe mental illness), and treatment and experiences of incarcerated individuals.

Linsey A. Belisle

Linsey A. Belisle, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Social Work at the University of Houston-Downtown. Her work focuses on advancing the treatment of justice-involved individuals through evidence-based correctional practices, gender responsivity, risk/needs assessments, and harm reduction. Her recent work appears in Criminal Justice and Behavior, Feminist Criminology, and The Prison Journal.

Emily J. Salisbury

Emily J. Salisbury, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Social Work and Director of the Utah Criminal Justice Center at the University of Utah. She is trained as a criminologist, and her research focuses primarily on correctional interventions and risk/need/strength assessment, particularly with system-involved women. She is the research director for the Women’s Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA) Lab and has been the principal investigator on a number of federally funded grants focused on gender- and trauma-responsive correctional strategies.