Department of Health Promotion and Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University, 162, Sec. 1, He-ping East Road, Taipei, Taiwan, 10610.
Institute of Clinical Nursing, School of Nursing, National Yang-Ming University, 155, Sec. 2, Li-Nong Street, Taipei, Taiwan, 11221.
Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2020 Oct 12;15(1):77. doi: 10.1186/s13011-020-00320-3.
Previous studies have rarely explored the effect of type of sentencing on employment status among illegal heroin users, therefore, we aims to examine the association of the sentencing types and employment outcomes among illegal heroin users in Taiwan.
Participants with illegal heroin use were identified through the national prison register system and deferred prosecution system: 2406 with deferred prosecutions, 4741 with observation and rehabilitation, 15 compulsory rehabilitation and 1958 sentenced to prison in calendar 2011. Logistic regression models were built to estimate the effect of sentencing type on unemployment status at 2 years after release. Stratification analysis was conducted to determine the effect of sentencing type based on the offender's employment status before sentencing.
Illegal heroin users receiving a prison sentence were more than twice as likely to be unemployed 2 years later than those receiving deferred prosecution. The unemployment rate was also higher for those with observation and rehabilitation and compulsory rehabilitation than deferred prosecution in the 2 years following sentencing. Males, older users, without a job before sentencing, divorced or widowed and higher prior drug use criminal records were also higher risk of unemployment. Subgroup analysis by prior employment status revealed that being sentenced to prison, observation and rehabilitation and compulsory rehabilitation affected the subsequent employment status only for those heroin users with a job before sentencing. The strength of associations showed dose-dependent relationship between different sentencing types (sentenced to prison> compulsory rehabilitation> observation and rehabilitation) and employment outcomes.
Illegal heroin users who receive a prison sentence have a much higher risk of unemployment than those who receive deferred prosecution after controlling potential confounders, especially those who had a job before sentencing. The implication is the stronger freedom of punishment, the higher risk of unemployment outcomes. Our study support that illegal heroin user is legally regarded as a patient before being regarded as a criminal, so giving priority to quit addition rather than imprisonment.
先前的研究很少探讨判刑类型对非法海洛因使用者就业状况的影响，因此，我们旨在检验台湾地区非法海洛因使用者判刑类型与就业结果之间的关联。
通过全国监狱登记系统和缓起诉制度确定有非法海洛因使用史的参与者：2011 年有 2406 人缓起诉、4741 人观察和康复、15 人强制康复、1958 人被判入狱。采用逻辑回归模型估计判刑类型对释放后 2 年失业状况的影响。进行分层分析，以确定判刑类型对判刑前有工作的罪犯的影响。
被判入狱的非法海洛因使用者 2 年后失业的可能性是被判缓起诉的两倍多。在判刑后的 2 年内，接受观察和康复以及强制康复的人的失业率也高于缓起诉。男性、年龄较大的使用者、判刑前没有工作、离婚或丧偶以及有更高的先前吸毒犯罪记录的人失业的风险也更高。按判刑前的就业状况进行亚组分析表明，被判入狱、观察和康复以及强制康复仅对判刑前有工作的海洛因使用者的后续就业状况产生影响。不同判刑类型（入狱>强制康复>观察和康复）与就业结果之间的关联强度呈剂量依赖性。
在控制潜在混杂因素后，被判入狱的非法海洛因使用者与被判缓起诉的人相比，失业的风险要高得多，尤其是那些判刑前有工作的人。这意味着惩罚力度越强，失业结果的风险就越高。我们的研究支持将非法海洛因使用者在法律上视为患者而非罪犯，因此优先考虑戒除毒瘾而非监禁。
