When drug dealers deal and drug users use, locking them up behind a set of metal bars in an orange jumpsuit seems like the logical solution. The intention behind this makes sense. Incarcerated drug users have nothing but time to think about their actions and make a plan to change their ways, right? Wrong. In jail, drug users have nothing but time to obsess about how and when they will get their next hit. Drugs have such an immense hold on them that the only thing on their addicted mind is scoring that next hit. With such intense craving, they quickly slip into their old habit once released. Their brains are hard-wired for the need for speed. Jailing these users time after time will not help them, a new solution is in desperate need.
The National Institute of Justice defines recidivism as a person 's relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions. In 2005, the Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted an experiment concerning the topic of recidivism. About 68 percent of 405,000 prisoners released in 30 states within three years of their release from prison, and 77 percent were arrested within five years (Durose, Cooper, Ph.D., Snyder, Ph.D.). These astounding statistics of recidivism helps to prove that jail alone will not assist addicts on their road to recovery.
Wally Lamb touched on the subject of recidivism in his book, Couldn 't keep it to myself: Testimonies from our imprisoned sisters. Lamb explains in his writing, “Of course, many women do return to prison, often within months of their release. Recidivism is high at York and in other prisons, about 70 percent” (347). Many of the reincarcerated women return because they have tried and failed to hold back their craving for the euphoric rush heroin an...
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...rless addicts recover from an illness that re-wires their brains and steals their will power. A substance abuser may attempt to heal on their own, but this strategy may not always work. Typically, abusers try to heal on their own because they cannot afford the expensive facilities already in place. Trapped in a vicious cycle, they use what little money they have to finance their next fix.
This nation cannot continue sending addicts away to prison where they begin to go through withdrawal and their sick mind obsesses over their favorite method to obtain a high. In these prisons, abusers have little to no access to professionals who can help them. Our nation desperately needs the creation of these facilities so it can fight this drug epidemic. Until then, untreated addicts, though free from incarceration, will remain imprisoned and held captive by their own addictions.
Treatment for substance abuse vital to reduce prison recidivism rate, The Medical News, March 14, 2008,http://www.news-medical.net/news/2008/03/14/36306.aspx
The complex issues of dealing with offenders in the criminal justice system has been a point of ongoing controversy, particularly in the arena of sentencing. In one camp there are those who believe offenders should be punished to the full extent of the law, while others advocate a more rehabilitative approach. The balancing act of max punishment for crimes committed, and rehabilitating the offender for reintegration into society has produced varying philosophies. With the emanation of drug-induced crimes over the past few decades, the concept of drug treatment courts has emerged. The premise of these courts is to offer a “treatment based alternative to prison,” which consist of intensive treatment services, random drug testing, incentives
Once these individuals in rehab serve there sentence the majority of them, won’t look straight to the next opportunity to get high, but the next opportunity for a better future after being encouraged in rehab to accomplish something in life, compared to someone’s attitude coming out of prison. One story involved a man named Richard with his wife Marcia. She was an addict who was often jailed for it, but Anthony believed like many others that “addiction can be overcome with proper help. He believed that the solution was to get her into a mental hospital [and] get her whatever she needs – Xanax, morphine, to get her chemical imbalance right. Show her some respect. (114)” Give her some working skills, so once she gets out she is capable of being successful but instead she kept getting “kicked down the steps” by the criminal justice system. The jailing and torture of addicts is routine to people serving cases for drug related offenses, who are often not built to endure prison, let alone jail. “The Justice Department estimates that 216,000 people are raped in these prisons every year. (This is the number of rapes, not the number of rapes – that is much higher.) (109)” This is ultimately shows the simple fact that many people are not built to endure
Mandatory minimums for controlled substances were first implemented in the 1980s as a countermeasure for the hysteria that surrounded drugs in the era (“A Brief History,” 2014). The common belief was that stiff penalties discouraged people from using drugs and enhanced public safety (“A Brief History,” 2014). That theory, however, was proven false and rather than less illegal drug activity, there are simply more people incarcerated. Studies show that over half of federal prisoners currently incarcerated are there on drug charges, a 116 percent percentage rise since 1970 (Miles, 2014). Mass incarceration is an ever growing issue in the United States and is the result of policies that support the large scale use of imprisonment on
Starting in 1970s, there has been an upward adjustment to sentencing making punishment more punitive and sentencing guidelines more strict. Martinson's (1974) meta-analyzies reviewed over 200 studies and concluded that nothing works in terms of rehabilitating prisoners. Rehabilitating efforts were discontinued. The War on Drugs campaign in 1970s incarcerated thousands of non-violent drug offenders into the system. In 1865, 34.3% of prison population were imprisoned for drug violation. By 1995, the percentage grew to 59.9% (figure 4.1, 104). Legislation policies like the Third Strikes laws of 1994 have further the severity of sentencing. The shift from rehabilitation to human warehouse marks the end of an era of trying to reform individuals and the beginnings of locking inmates without preparation of their release. Along with the reform in the 1970s, prosecutors are given more discretion at the expense of judges. Prosecutors are often pressure to be tough on crime by the socie...
In recent years, there has been controversy over mass incarceration rates within the United States. In the past, the imprisonment of criminals was seen as the most efficient way to protect citizens. However, as time has gone on, crime rates have continued to increase exponentially. Because of this, many people have begun to propose alternatives that will effectively prevent criminals from merely repeating their illegal actions. Some contend that diversion programs, such as rehabilitation treatment for drug offenders, is a more practical solution than placing mentally unstable individuals into prison. By helping unsteady criminals regain their health, society would see an exceptional reduction in the amount of crimes committed. Although some
According to the National Institute of Justice, recidivism is one of the most fundamental concepts in criminal justice. The NIJ defines recidivism as a person’s relapse into criminal behavior, often after receiving sanctions or undergoing intervention for a previous crime. Recidivism is often utilized in evaluating prisons effectiveness in crime control. Reducing recidivism is crucial for probation, parole and to the correctional system overall.
This often referred to definition is a pretty universally accepted and simple concept if we continue to do what has failed in the past why should we expect a different outcome? We shouldn’t but in the case of drug addicts the legal system holds on to the dogma of incarceration alone for the most part will somehow rehabilitate a disease. Prisoners with other medical conditions are sent to prisons that can meet there medical needs. Treatment for inmates who are mentally ill are mostly undertreated if they receive treatment at all. I will not say all because there are some states that are trying to offer treatment but unfortunately when money is tight as it has been for several years now this is one of the first programs to get defunded. I am not asking for preferential treatment for the drug abuser I am asking for equal treatment drug addiction is a disease and we need to treat it as such. The hardened criminal that has multiple convictions is not necessarily who I’m describing the first time someone is found guilty of possession this is where we start and teens who commit crimes to get drugs that is where we should start. Not to say if someone wants to get into the program that doesn’t fit that description we don’t help them out by all means we do but the earlier we can stop the progression of their criminal activity the better. If we continue to go on acting as if addicts don’t need treatment in our prisons we will continue to see them return which is insanity.
Half of the ex-convicts on parole in Michigan wind up back in prison within two years. Michigan's prison population fluctuates between 49,500 and 50,000 annually, costing taxpayers roughly $1.4 billion (Michigan Corrections 11). That equates to one quarter of the state's budget alone. In 2004, over 6,000 offenders were incarcerated for drug offenses in Michigan (Macallair). A report by the Justice Policy Institute found that there was almost as many inmates imprisoned for drug offenses alone in 2002 as the entire United States prisoner population in 1980. For more than 25 years our nation's correctional system has only adapted to this unprecedented increase and have yet to take true rehabilitating action. If the cost of an inmate for a year of incarceration is approximately $28,000 (Drug War Facts), that means the State of Michigan currently spends more than $160 million dollars each year to put away drug offenders. Why doesn't this expensive attack o...
Wormith, J. S., Althouse, R., Simpson, M., Reitzel, L. R., Fagan, T. J., & Morgan, R. D. (2007). The rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders: The current landscape and some future directions for correctional psychology. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(7), 879-892.
Drug violators are a major cause of extreme overcrowding in US prisons. In 1992, 59,000 inmates were added to make a record setting 833,600 inmates nationwide (Rosenthal 1996). A high percentage of these prisoners were serving time because of drug related incid...
Putting these types of individuals in prison is a problem. They are put in there to get rehabilitated and help with their drug problem. The states and United States government contribute billions of dollars to prisons; where, the majority of offenders are substance abusers. However, are they really getting the help they need?
The “Tough on Crime” and “War on Drugs” policies of the 1970s – 1980s have caused an over populated prison system where incarceration is policy and assistance for prevention was placed on the back burner. As of 2005, a little fewer than 2,000 prisoners are being released every day. These individuals have not gone through treatment or been properly assisted in reentering society. This has caused individuals to reenter the prison system after only a year of being release and this problem will not go away, but will get worst if current thinking does not change. This change must be bigger than putting in place some under funded programs that do not provide support. As the current cost of incarceration is around $30,000 a year per inmate, change to the system/procedure must prevent recidivism and the current problem of over-crowed prisons.
In her article Kristin Mitchell said that “The average cost of someone in the program is $32,974 compared to the $64,338 needed to send him or her to prison for 25 months, or the average prison sentence for drug offenders. Though the treatment in prison can help them while being there. In prison, they have classes where they talk about how you got into jail and how many times you been in jail for the same thing(which is drugs , alcohol, etc) and what can you do to fix it. They help you get better, every time you have that chance to go in there everyone has the chose to talk about how they got into their addiction. In prison they have no choice but to go to the treatment. When they are out of prison, however, they have choices that they must make and many people fall back into their old habits. Treatment centers offer more choices. For this reason, treatment centers provide a more realistic solution to the problem of addiction
The link between drug use and crime is not a new one. For more than twenty years, both the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Justice have funded many studies to try to better understand the connection. One such study was done in Baltimore on heroin users. This study found high rates of criminality among users during periods of active drug use, and much lower rates during periods of nonuse (Ball et al. 1983, pp.119-142). A large number of people who abuse drugs come into contact with the criminal justice system when they are sent to jail or to other correctional facilities. The criminal justice system is flooded with substance abusers. The need for expanding drug abuse treatment for this group of people was recognized in the Crime Act of 1994, which for the first time provided substantial resources for federal and state jurisdictions. In this paper, I will argue that using therapeutic communities in prisons will reduce the recidivism rates among people who have been released from prison. I am going to use the general theory of crime, which is based on self-control, to help rationalize using federal tax dollars to fund these therapeutic communities in prisons. I feel that if we teach these prisoners some self-control and alternative lifestyles that we can keep them from reentering the prisons once they get out. I am also going to describe some of today’s programs that have proven to be very effective. Gottfredson and Hirschi developed the general theory of crime.