Analysis Of Opioid Users Are Filling Jails By Timothy Williams

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In Timothy Williams’ article, “Opioid Users are Filling Jails. Why Don’t Jails Treat Them?”, the methods through which the criminal justice system deals with drug addiction are discussed. By examining how a former drug addict, Dave Mason, dealt with his heroin detoxification process whilst incarcerated, it becomes quickly apparent how jails and prisons may end up encouraging many people to relapse. With the recent national emergency declaration on opioid abuse, there is no doubt any question on how opioid use is becoming a major issue in American society. Therefore, it is necessary to question why many jails and prisons have yet to implement or even allow drug treatment programs, such as the methadone treatment program Mr. Mason completed.
However, in order to understand why some of these “rehabilitative” correctional institutions are failing to impose or even allow drug treatment programs for many people, it is necessary to analyze the surrounding circumstances and biases of drug use from a sociological perspective. According to the sociological imagination, each individual may have personal or private troubles, such as drug abuse. C Wright Mills had stated that these private issues are ultimately connected to public issues of social structure. It can therefore be concluded that even though a person may not consciously realize how the larger surrounding society is influencing his or her decisions or issues, there is always a relationship between the experiences of an individual and the larger society in whole. For example, there is a clear correlation between social stratification and drug use, whereby people in a lower socioeconomic class are more likely to face unhealthy drug use. This can be explained in part because of the disadvantage in status individuals were automatically ascribed when born. When looking at individuals from a lower social class, it can be easily asserted how they face more obstacles when attempting to climb up the social ladder. It is therefore, harder for them to get to the same level of achievement as someone from a higher social class. From a functionalist perspective, this may lead those individuals to sell drugs in order to support their families as well as themselves. More specifically, the presence of paraphernalia related gangs in low income bracket neighborhoods can cause many lower income individuals to consider illegitimate opportunity structures, whereby selling drugs may as well be the only source of income these individuals have in supporting their families. Additionally, these individuals may start using these drugs in order to relieve the stress from what they are forced to do and sell. Furthermore, many people can also be in retreatist gangs, where they are unable to climb up the social ladder through legitimate means and
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From the functionalist perspective, many higher-class individuals may use drugs as a result of the demanding society and work they do. For example, many Wall Street brokers and finance consultants may utilize drugs in order to “keep up” with the work load they are given, which may lead to addiction. According to the interactive perspective, popular culture media such as movies, as well as peer consumption of drugs in your surrounding culture, or the groups you encounter yourself with, deem drugs as a normal aspect. With drug consumption being considered a “popular” characteristic of the groups you are in, an increasing pressure is placed on the individual to partake in this

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