Tests as Barometers for Change

Urinalysis is an effective barometer for measuring an offender's attitude or ambivalence toward change. If an offender tells staff that she is committed to stopping drug use but her tests keep coming up positive, staff knows that she is not sufficiently motivated.

Testing also can help offenders break through the denial that often characterizes addiction by confronting them with objective evidence of their drug use. Breaking through denial will move an offender from the "precontemplation" to the "contemplation" stage of behavior change.