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 …show more content…
“Having court-ordered treatment and monitoring may be the most effective approach to getting substance use disorder services to many adolescents.” It is better to put juvenile delinquents who just have legal troubles with drugs on probation so they can get the help that they need without learning any new tricks in the juvenile residential correctional facility.
Diversion Programs and Substance Use Treatment for Juveniles. Diversion is a tool used by the juvenile justice system to handle the high volume of juvenile offenders without incarcerating all of them. A judge can sentence a juvenile delinquent to a diversion program and these have actually been proven to be more effective in rehabilitation than a residential program. Diversion programs are essentially an offshoot of probation. I have described some of the diversion programs that are used commonly below.
Intensive Community Supervision. Juveniles have the opportunity to continue about their everyday lives with school and their families. This includes reporting to a probation counselor very frequently with a bare minimum of twice a
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 …show more content…
“Having court-ordered treatment and monitoring may be the most effective approach to getting substance use disorder services to many adolescents.” It is better to put juvenile delinquents who just have legal troubles with drugs on probation so they can get the help that they need without learning any new tricks in the juvenile residential correctional facility.
Diversion Programs and Substance Use Treatment for Juveniles. Diversion is a tool used by the juvenile justice system to handle the high volume of juvenile offenders without incarcerating all of them. A judge can sentence a juvenile delinquent to a diversion program and these have actually been proven to be more effective in rehabilitation than a residential program. Diversion programs are essentially an offshoot of probation. I have described some of the diversion programs that are used commonly below.
Intensive Community Supervision. Juveniles have the opportunity to continue about their everyday lives with school and their families. This includes reporting to a probation counselor very frequently with a bare minimum of twice a