Summary of Evaluations

of the Narconon® Program

over the Last 30 Years

Drug reversion surveys of Narconon graduates done in the 1970s

   
Simple tabulations of the behavior of parolees were done in several institutions:

• The California Dept. of Corrections reported on 19 inmates who had participated in the Narconon program while in prison. 17 had been paroled. 12 of these were reported as clean (70%). Of the 5 remaining, 2 were not found, 2 had been arrested and one had been suspended from the program due to cocaine use.
• The California Institute for Women reported on 25 Narconon clients. 23 had been paroled. 18 of these were clean (78%). Of the remaining, 3 were parolees at large and 2 had been re-arrested.
• The Arizona Correctional Authority reported on 76 Narconon students who had been released from prison. 32 were found. 24 of these were clean (75%).
• Rikers Island Institute for Men in New York. Of the 81 students who had started the voluntary Narconon program, 43 had completed the initial program. 21 of these had been paroled and 17 were contacted. 14 of these were clean (82 percent of those found, 67 percent of total parolees).
• Overall, approximately 73 percent of the Narconon students released from prison remained clean while on parole.

Other early Evaluations of the Narconon Program

California Youth Authority

The California Youth Authority examined the effectiveness of the Narconon program in changing behavior at its Youth Training School (YTS). This study was aimed at monitoring objective measures of behavior. Therefore, the evaluators tabulated the number of infractions, the number of restrictions, and the grade being achieved in Trade School.

Following the study, Dan Fauchier of the Youth Authority stated, “Although [the survey] results should not be viewed as positive proof of Narconon effectiveness, they do seem to strongly indicate that Narconon is having a very positive and beneficial effect in increasing the socially-desirable behavior of its participants both in trade classes and on the living units.”


Minnesota Reformatory

Narconon students at the State Reformatory for Men in Minnesota were evaluated by Posthumos and Snowden in 1978. The authors chose to evaluate the change in behavior of Narconon students with time, considering the pre-treatment behavior pattern as the control for this population.

The objective measures of behavior monitored by the Institute as part of its standard operation included (1) Institutional rule infractions that the inmates were found guilty of, (2) Days of lost privileges, and (3) Days of segregation.

“Guilty Findings” were reduced by 38 percent during the Narconon program study and 40 percent afterwards. For comparison, a tabulation of 10 percent of the prison population, randomly selected, was also done. Their number of guilty findings increased by 77%; the Narconon program had reversed this trend.


Delaware Correctional Center

The Narconon program inside Delaware Correctional Center was evaluated in 1975. The Narconon clients were, on average, more violent and were serving longer terms than the average prison population (5+ years compared to the average >1 year). Fifty-eight percent of the Narconon students had been incarcerated for a major crime compared to 23 percent of the total prison population.

The arrest rates for Narconon graduates following release were compared to the rates for a randomly selected group of parolees. Of the 86 Narconon parolees, 4 were not found and 2 were dead. Eighty four percent of the Narconon students who had completed more than one Narconon course had no arrest during the follow-up period. By comparison, 64 percent of the control population had been re-arrested.

[NOTE: Although the 1970s studies showed strong improvements, all these studies had been done prior to the development of the Narconon New Life Detoxification Program. This accounts to a great extent for the strong improvement in recidivism rates noted in the 1997 study by Dr. Beckmann.]

Independent Evaluations

The Spanish Study (1985)

An independent sociology group evaluated the Narconon program in 1985. The same agency had also done studies on drug issues for the Spanish Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Social Services, and Madrid’s Town Hall’s Social Services Department.

The study showed that 78.4 percent of the people who completed the Narconon program remained off drugs. Overall, 69.2 percent of the people contacted (including those who done only a portion of the program) were still off drugs.

In conformity with the earlier studies, this study showed a remarkable effect on criminal activity. Prior to the program, 62.2 percent of the Narconon students had committed robberies. Seventy three percent had been dealing drugs. After the Narconon program no criminal activities (0 percent) were reported by any graduates.
Russian Study

In 1998, an “Expertise of the Drug Rehabilitation Program at Narconon Moscow” was prepared by U.D. Gurochkin M.D., N.N. Grigoriev (Lecturer, Russian Interior Ministry), and V.V. Khlystoun (Special Correspondent “Trud” [Labor]). Studying the files and medical documents of 32 students who had completed the Narconon program between 1995 and 1998, their research included health examinations, evaluation of objective and subjective data following program completion including drug screens, and evaluation of the students’mental condition.

Their final “Conclusions,” state, “Professional study of Narconon materials and the medical-psychological investigation of 32 patients has shown: 1. The Narconon Method’s ratio of efficiency is 72%, demonstrated by study of the patient histories. 2. Professional inspection of patients’ physical and mental condition has shown significant improvements. 3. The Narconon Program can be recommended to the State Narcology Institutes of the Ministry of Health for application.”