Research Paper on "Effect of Drug Courts on Drug Abuse and Criminal Offending"

Research Paper 6 pages (2106 words) Sources: 12

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Drug Courts on Drug Abuse and Criminal Offending

Over the past decades, drug courts have been fronted as the answer to the rapidly growing numbers of drug related offenders taken to the U.S. criminal justice system, and these courts have become prevalent from the time of their introduction in 1989. The numerous assessments of these courts and related programs have elicited mixed results and reactions among the numerous scholars, administrators, governments and stakeholders in the society. Different analytical methods have been used to appraise the evidence on the efficiency of the drug courts in reducing future criminal offending (John 2001).

The general and mostly arrived at findings and conclusions have suggested that drug offenders channeled through the drug courts are less probable to fall into recidivism or re-offenders group than offenders taken through the traditional voluntary correctional alternatives. The courts hold a lucid motivation towards undertaking the drug court program successfully to the end (David, 2006).

The origin of drug courts traces back to the 80s in the era of 'war on drugs' with Miami being one of the first states to establish a drug courts system. With this as precedence, many more states established such courts to handle the rampant and continually increasing juvenile drug cases and up to now there are well over 1300 courts of the same nature (Amanda & Michael 2005). The initiation of the courts was by and large due to the ever heaping backlog of cases in the court system against a steadily increasing prison population.

Unlike the criminal courts, the drug courts are based on the transitional sanctions of the community that integrates treatment factor into the justice system, and tends to exempt the drug addicts from probation and prison. The fundamental focus of the drug courts is to solve the underlying causes of drug addiction as well mitigate the potential drug uses and crimes (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2009). In the 1980s, all levels of government joined together to stop completely the plague of crack-cocaine in an era where almost the entire U.S. believed that drugs were the major problem in the justice system. Between 1980 and 1995 the drug related crimes rate shot up by 27.3% and consequently jamming the court systems. With the increased drug related cases being channeled through the court system, there was an urgent need for a solution.

Initially the courts were simply used to ease the congestion in the court system but did not help rehabilitate the drug offenders and the addictions. In 1998 the renowned attorneys Timothy Murray and Reno Janet began a drug court system in Florida, Dade County and this became point of reference for many other states. It linked the district attorney, the judiciary, probation officers, the public defender, the police department and the community at large in order to fight the drug crime and drug related crimes in harmony (Elizabeth & Robert, 2001).

The courts are instrumental in the mitigation of drug use and criminal offending by actively participating in the full cycle rehabilitation of the offenders from the time of arrest to the final stage of full recovery of the drug offender. In bid to achieve this, the court system is involved in the following five roles as seen by Amanda (2005).

Is legally mandated treatment effective?

The courts assist in Early Identification the drug users and offenders who need to be placed under treatment or rehabilitation. The potential repeat offenders are therefore identified, evaluated and placed under treatment as the court may recommend early in time as possible, as a result stopping the drug use and criminal offending.

The court systems are by and large propagators of community based-treatment. The drug courts help identify and match offenders to the most suitable community-based program. There is the option of the court recommending the residential or outpatient treatment programs in the community-based programs. These recommended treatments by the courts have been seen to largely work in inducing abstinence from drugs and offending among the participants (Robert & Daniel).

Through the legal coercion the court systems assists in the controlling the drug menace in the U.S. The court imposes a legal ruling to the offenders and it is seen to generate more positive response than the voluntary participants in the rehabilitation system (Glenn, 2005). Those who voluntarily subscribe to the treatment process may opt out at any time even before they have fully recovered yet on the other hand, those legally bound will have to go the entire time prescribed by the court and can only benefit from charge reduction by the same courts upon proof that they have recovered. It is worth noting that they could face jail or prison in case they do not show positive response to the treatment and continue offending. Due to these hurdles, the drug courts have all along helped reduce the drug abuse cases.

Judicial supervision is also provided the moderation and control of the entire treatment process. This happens through time to time meeting and hearing from the offenders by the judges. Most of these one to one conversations with the offenders under treatment concentrate on the challenges, the state of the rehabilitation and the progress of the participants. This supervision has a pivotal role in enhancing sobriety among the offenders going through rehabilitation.

The drug courts ha also facilitated progress in treatment through tabling rewards and sanctions to the participants in the treatment process. There is a range of sanctions and rewards that are imposed by the drug courts upon the participants. The sanctions are imposed on the grounds that they work best under the basis of certainty; where every breaching must receive a sanction, celerity; whereby the sanctions are enforced as soon as the offense is committed, and severity; where the sanctions are increased by the drug courts in proportion to the severity of the misdemeanor and/or frequency of the same.

The drug courts also adopt the team approach in trying to solve the drug use problem. The array of the judges, attorneys and the facility officers work hand in hand to effectively handle the offenders and in harmony try to ensure the recovery of each and every offender going through the treatment. In so doing the court systems have largely participated in reducing the drug abuse and criminal offending.

The legally mandated treatment is seen to be widely working in many states in the U.S. Frequently the drug courts system do apply legal pressure to urge the offenders to take part in the treatment and many a times the system has used the participation in the treatment as a precondition to pretrial release, parole or even probation. From research, a large percentage of the participants in the treatment process cite legal pressure as a reason for their participation and most of them come out of the facilities reformed and non-drug users and shy from crime. It is also observed that those drug offenders who are legally bound to undergo treatment have a higher success rate than those who voluntarily get involved since those legally bound have a higher attendance rate and remain in the treatment facilities for longer periods.

In many instances the criminal justice system does employ application of legal pressure to coerce offenders into participating in drug abuse rehabilitation/treatment, the admission into the program can be compulsory, for instance through a drug court or as a condition of pretrial discharge, trial, or parole. A significant percentage of those who have undergone drug abuse treatment refer to legal pressure as an significant motivation for seeking treatment.

Majority of the researches/studies propose that results for those who legally bound to go into treatment are as good as or better than results for those who volunteered into treatment. Those under legal pressure also tend to have higher attendance rate and to remain in treatment for longer periods, which can also have a positive impact on treatment outcomes.

Duration of treatment for offenders going through drug courts.

Different individuals graduate through the drug court programs at different rates. Research has shown that there is a direct relationship between the time that an offender takes going through the treatment and the likelihood of recidivism. There is a general agreement that better results are experienced from the treatments that span longer than ninety days. There is a greater reduction in the likelihood of recidivism into drugs or criminal behavior among those who complete the entire prescribed time, though the legal pressure participates in the retention.

The offenders with multiple offence or radical drug abuse history may be subjected to longer and wider variety programs, however, research has indicated that the drug court programs if followed by the community-based rehabilitation programs leads to a greater success rate.

The program is seen to take a long time since the treatment is done in a systematic manner, whereby the initial stages of the treatment are focused towards aiding the participant terminate the drug use as they were used to frequent drug use, also referred to… READ MORE

How to Reference "Effect of Drug Courts on Drug Abuse and Criminal Offending" Research Paper in a Bibliography

Related Research Papers:

Domestic Marijuana Production and Regulation Marijuana Leaf Essay

Domestic Marijuana Production and Regulation

Marijuana leaf or "cannabis" is a cultivatable herb capable of producing a euphoric psychological change in users, roughly comparable in its degree (if not in… read more

Essay 6 pages (1694 words) Sources: 12 Style: APA Topic: Drugs / Alcohol / Tobacco

---

Substance Abuse There Is a Significant Correlation Term Paper

Substance Abuse

There is a significant correlation between drug addiction and the tendency to commit crime. The United States Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in 1989 developed a comprehensive substance abuse… read more

Term Paper 13 pages (3631 words) Sources: 10 Style: APA Topic: Drugs / Alcohol / Tobacco

---

Theories of Criminal Behavior That Have Exhibited Influence on Today's Correctional System Thesis

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR THAT HAVE EXHIBITED INFLUENCE on TODAY'S CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

The objective of this work is to discuss theories of criminal behavior that have exhibited influence on today's correctional system… read more

Thesis 9 pages (2451 words) Sources: 6 Style: APA Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Drug Rehabilitation vs. Imprisonment for Non-Violent Drug Users Capstone Project

REHABILITATION V. IMPRISONMENT

Why Rehabilitation Is Favored Over Imprisonment

When an offender is convicted of a non-violent drug offense the decision on whether to incarcerate the offender or rehabilitate the… read more

Capstone Project 20 pages (7508 words) Sources: 6 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Violence Against Women Term Paper

Violence Against Women: An Application of Theory

The question of gender violence in relationships, particularly violent crimes perpetrated against females, has been the focus of media as well as criminological… read more

Term Paper 18 pages (5452 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>