In November of 2000, over 60 percent of California voters approved the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, a statute designed to aid non-violent drug offenders (“California Proposition 36”). Under Proposition 36, individuals convicted of non-violent drug offenses are offered probation and community-based treatment programs, in lieu of incarceration (“California Proposition 36”). The concept behind the proposition is commendable, but also very controversial. In terms of eligibility and qualification requirements for Proposition 36, the authors of the statue were quite clear.…
This paper examines the effectiveness of drug treatment courts. In the past, there are many ways in which drug treatment courts are scrutinized. For purposes of this paper, the effectiveness of drug treatment courts will be evaluated through rates of recidivism. This paper describes the drug court model and how it differs from traditional courts. It will take a look at the history of drug treatment courts detailing how they became a part of the United States of America’s criminal justice system today.…
This paper written by Amanda B. Cissner and Michael Rempel, discusses what the drug courts are, a brief explanation when and how the drug courts got started, how do they work, and what do they do for the people who are given the treatment for their dug usage problems. In this review paper I’m going to explain what those points are and what do they mean to me in my own words. Drug courts was introduced in 1989 in Miami, it launched dramatic shift in how the court system responds to the criminal behavior of drug addicted defendants, by combining treatment with close supervision, the drug court model offered new alternative to the unproductive and costly cycle of addiction crime, and incarceration. In other ways it seems like they’re going to…
In the article, “The Long-Term Effects of Prison-Based Drug Treatment and Aftercare Services on Recidivism” David Olson found that individuals who participated in the treatment and aftercare programs for drug offense in Illinois had a lower chance of returning to prison (Olson). In the Sheridan Correctional Center (SCC) in Illinois, “researchers found that individuals who participated in drug treatment had a 15% lower chance of returning to prison and individuals who participated in aftercare programs had a 44% lower chance of returning to prison” (Olson). Therefore, the No Entry Strategy programs help reduce the incarceration rate by helping people with their drug problems. As a result, people are less likely to return to prison or jails for drug…
Specialized courts have been instrumental in deviating the impact of overpopulated and taxed prison systems. Accordingly, they provide an environment that allows drug abusers to correct their behavior and lessen recidivism for similar crimes (Drug Courts, n.d.). The advantage of having a drug courts improve the treatment an offender gets and allows them to take charge over the positive changes in their day-to-day lives. The National Institute of Justice has found that recidivism rates drop significantly around 17%-26% depending of the programs used and assignment of judges over the length of time done (Do Drug Courts Work? Findings From Drug Court Research, n.d.).…
Substance Abuse Treatment in the Juvenile Justice System Juvenile offenders have a high rate of substance use. Upon arrival to a correctional facility after being detained, approximately 56% of boys and 40% of girls tested positive for drugs. Most of these youth test positively for marijuana or cocaine, but many are addicted to many more substances. The DSM-V defines a substance-use disorder as “a maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress…” classified by encompassing 2 or more of 11 different criteria from the manual. By effectively treating substance-use disorders, the juvenile justice system can: a) stop the offender from committing the criminal act of drug use itself and b) decrease recidivism rates of juvenile offenders by truly treating them instead of perpetuating them to become a product of the…
McCoy (2010) demonstrates that drug courts was established to prevent drug-related crime, help individuals get off using drugs, and help addicts become normal United States citizens. Rempel, Green and Kralstein (2012) argues “[…] their potential to reduce incarceration lies in their impact on recidivism, leading to fewer future cases on which long periods of incarceration might otherwise have been imposed” (Rempel, Green and Kralstein, 2012, p.190). Rempel, Green and Kralstein (2012) demonstrated that the drug court intervention should not be considered for an alternative to incarceration, right away because this based on their findings, more research needs to be conducted to further provide evidence. Sullivan and Hamilton (2007) argues “[…] that although slight increases in substance use prevalence may not precipitate immediate changes in criminal behavior it may induce later increases in crime” (Sullivan and Hamilton, 2007, p.514). Sullivan and Hamilton (2007) demonstrates that there tends to be a gradual decline in criminal behavior leading to a decrease in substance…
Due to the implications of Reagan's War on Drugs laws, drug courts have demonstrated and proven to reduce recidivism for offenders who abuse substances. To deter overcrowding in the prisons, Researcher Messer has found that drug courts can be instrumental in deterring offenders from reoffending. It is surprising that “85% of offenders incarcerated require substance abuse treatment” (Messer, 2016). Drug courts allow offenders to “attain important skills/ideas, improve relationships with family and children, a general educational development certificate, a driver’s license, and/or gainful employment” (Messer, 2016). Researcher Shaffer studied over “80 drug courts and found recidivism rates of 46% for those who participated in drug court programming”…
Incarceration rates within the United States are among the highest in the world, but when sentences come to an end, offenders are released back into the community. As hundreds of thousands of offenders are released from prison each year, the stigma of being an ex-prisoner results in a multitude of obstacles, such as housing, employment, and relationships (Plante, 2015). Because reintegration back into the community can be such a difficult process, attention needs to be given to reentry barriers and effective reentry programs are necessary. Being incarcerated can have harmful effects as incarceration alone has been shown to actually increase recidivism (Plante, 2015). Individuals that are incarcerated face many struggles when being released back into the community.…
Drug Court Effectiveness and Recidivism of Participants According to the results from the 2013 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring II (ADAM II) survey (2014), between two-thirds and three-quarters of all adults males arrested were at risk for drug dependence; as few as one-quarter had sought any type of treatment for drug or alcohol use. (p. xiv). Traditionally, the criminal justice system focused on enforcement and incarceration to reduce drug-related crime, but recidivism has remained high.…
For decades, overcrowded prison populations have been at the top of the list for penal reform in the United States. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reports that nearly 85,500 individuals are currently incarcerated on drug-related charges, making up 46.4% of the total inmate population in our prison systems. Of those incarcerated on drug charges, nearly half are low-level drug offenders with no current or prior violence charges on their records. (The United States War on Drugs, n.d) Are criminalization and harsh punitive measures against these nonviolent offenders the root source of our overcrowded prison systems?…
Probation throughout the United States: A Good Thought, but Horrible Results Since the introduction of probation in the United States, the system has proved to be ineffective time and time again. There are many issues that back up this idea ranging from overloaded caseloads, statistically proved recidivism rates, and lack of community based rehabilitation programs. In the world we live in today, there are many different types of offenders that get sentenced to probation. Offenders on probation come from all walks of life including social status, and neighborhoods that have a great influence on the psychological make-up of the offender. I will begin by discussing my thoughts on recidivism rates I found while I analyzed journal articles.…
During a time when the federal government has trillions in debt, it seems unethical and unintelligent to ignore the benefits and cost savings of helping people get the treatment they need rather than worsening everyone’s problems with incarceration. Several states have already taken considerable steps to divert people convicted of low-level drug offenses to treatment and other services. The California Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 (SACPA) diverts people convicted of non-violent, drug-related crimes to community-based treatment, education, or training and probation. A fiscal evaluation estimated that for every $1 allocated to fund this program, $2.50 was saved. The resulting net savings to the state and local governments amounted to a staggering $173.3 million per year in avoided criminal justice costs, reduced trial court costs, and reduced arrest rates of participants.…
(2011). Crime and Prisons: Beyond the rehabilitation and punishment debate. Retrieved from http://proutglobe.org/2011/05/crime-and-prisons-beyond-the-rehabilitation-and-punishment-debate/ Lipsey, M.W. & Cullen, F. T. (2007, December). The Effectiveness of Correctional Rehabilitation: A Review of Systematic Reviews. Retrieved from Annual Review of Law and Social Science website: http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.3.081806.112833 Miceli, V. (2009, May).…
(Ferranti, S., n.d.) Becoming drug free is tough when there isn’t a compassionate network of people to support them; therefore it is important for prisoners to be introduced to these programs while incarcerated. An experiment was conducted in Sweden that was published in the Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology & Crime Prevention, a peer-reviewed journal of scientific work, where 741 prisoners were compared to prisoners with the same statistical likelihood of reoffending. The results showed that the prisoners who received drug treatment prior to their release show a significantly lower amount of re-offense than the group who did not. (Holmberg, S., & Öberg, J., 2012)…