UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 22, Page 3
March 5, 1992
Center researches origins and causes of substance abuse

     The University of Delaware Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies
was established in July 1991 to enable social and behavioral
scientists to conduct research on the origin and causes of
substance abuse and to design and evaluate prevention and treatment
programs.
     In addition to supplying information useful to the state and
the nation, the center also will provide technical assistance to
agencies seeking grants and training for graduate students
interested in substance abuse research.
     James A. Inciardi, professor of sociology and criminal
justice, is director of the new center. Three additional faculty
members from the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice,
three project directors and numerous other professionals at the
center currently are working on funded research projects totaling
more than $10 million. The center is located at 77 East Main St. in
Newark.
     Under a $4.2 million, five-year grant awarded in 1990 by the
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Assertive Community
Treatment project was established to determine the effectiveness of
three models of drug abuse treatment and AIDS
prevention/intervention within a population of parolees at high
risk for HIV and AIDS. Steven S. Martin, associate scientist at the
center, is project director.
     In September 1991, the center received another five-year grant
from NIDA for $4.8 million to establish and examine the
effectiveness of a therapeutic community for work release inmates.
The treatment facility for this therapeutic community project, the
CREST Outreach Center, is located in Wilmington. Dorothy Lockwood,
an associate scientist with the center, is project director for
this grant.
     Anne E. Pottieger, a scientist with the center, is director
for several projects underway in Miami. These grants focus on drug
use and delinquency, women and heroin use, and cocaine use and
crime. Pottieger also assists with the two NIDA projects.
     Frank R. Scarpitti, chairperson of the Department of Sociology
and Criminal Justice, is directing the process evaluations of the
treatment components of both NIDA projects and assists with
analyses of other projects at the center.
     Two associate professors in the Department of Sociology and
Criminal Justice, who are researching drug and alcohol abuse among
non-prison populations, are affiliated with the center. Leon E.
Pettiway holds a NIDA grant to conduct a longitudinal study of the
association between drug use and inner-city crime in Philadelphia.
Cynthia Robbins is a co-investigator on a grant from the National
Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to study the use of
alcohol and medications by the elderly.
     Center staff also are involved in a number of program
evaluation projects. Lockwood and Martin are conducting the
evaluation components of the New Castle County Community
Partnership grant. Funded by the federal Office of Substance Abuse
Prevention, this project will develop a consortium of grassroots
organizations, local government, private service groups and
industry to establish substance abuse prevention efforts in the
county. The center also is evaluating the Wilmington Cluster
Against Substance Abuse (WCASA) high-risk youth project,
administered by the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension
and funded by Extension Services-USDA. Martin and Lockwood are also
evaluating the Tiny Steps, a United Way community initiative
project to be administered by West End Neighborhood House community
center.
     In addition, center staff members are serving in advisory
roles. Martin and Robbins are advising NIDA on revising the
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, and Inciardi and Lockwood
serve on various committees and task forces advising the state on
improving treatment for drug-using offenders and other issues
related to drug use in Delaware.
     Center personnel are available to offer technical assistance
to agencies seeking grants from federal sponsors for research and
demonstrations projects. As part of its educational focus, the
center will sponsor lecture series and conferences and serve as a
repository of data archives. Graduate students will be trained in
substance abuse research and associated methodologies.