Answer

Drug Rehabilitation v. Incarceration

Introduction

The debate over rehabilitation and incarceration for alcohol and drug offenders has been ongoing for a long time. Whereas some people vote for incarceration, others feel that rehabilitation is better for reducing prisons’ overcrowding and high costs of imprisonment. Dealing with addiction and drug offenders has not been easy. However, a lot of research has been conducted on the effectiveness of rehabilitation and incarceration. Just like a patient, drug offenders deserve better treatments that can enable them to beat addiction. Through understanding that adduction is like a disease that requires treatment, the solution to have addiction treatment incorporated into the criminal justice system is essential. Qualitative research will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of rehabilitation over incarceration towards reducing overcrowding and high costs of imprisonment.

Thesis Statement

Prisons and jails cost the government vast amounts of money due to the high numbers of prison populations. The tough economic times have made policymakers in different jurisdictions of the criminal justice system to consider ways of reducing the resources spent on incarceration. Notably, the US alone incur incarceration costs of around $80 billion per year (Lewis & Lockwood, 2019). However, such a figure is considered an underestimate of the actual costs of imprisonment because it ignores aspects such as social costs. When courts have ordered that drug offenders be sent to prison, billions of dollars have been spent, and recidivism increases (Byrne, Pattavina, & Taxman, 2015). However, drug rehabilitation is one of the approaches that is a cheaper and more effective method for addressing drug offenders. The rehabilitation of drug offenders is an effective alternative to incarceration because of its ability to socially reintegrate drug offenders and reduce prison populations and, ultimately, incarceration costs. The proposed study will research on the impact of using rehabilitation instead of the incarceration of drug offenders on the prison population and the costs of running prisons and jails.

Research Questions

The proposed report will seek to respond to the following research questions:-

RQ1: What are the effects of drug rehabilitation compared to incarceration on the criminal justice system?

RQ2: What is the impact of drug rehabilitation compared to incarceration on the lives of the drug offenders?

Hypothesis

            In the end, the study will establish an effective method for solving the problem of a high number of prison populations and the increased cost of running the prison and jails. Based on the observation and available literature, it is hypnotized that; if drug addicts are rehabilitated, they are likely to undergo adequate behavior transformation instead of sent to prison. Hence, they will live a better life compared to being rearrested. More arrests increase prison populations, unlike the rehabilitation that facilitates individuals’ behavior change. Further, when a person is repeatedly arrested, they can develop psychological problems that cause more problems in the society. With fewer prisoners, the amounts spent on providing for their stay in prison will be significantly reduced. Therefore, the study will further reveal how rehabilitation reduces overcrowding and high prison costs. 

Measurement and Analysis

The main focus is on how rehabilitation can be used as an alternative to incarceration. Specifically, the study will seek to discover the effects of rehabilitation and how it will reduce high prison populations and the high costs of running the prisons. To make a proper conclusion, qualitative data will be gathered. Both primary and secondary data will aid in the research process. Through interviews and observation, the primary, whereby, the individuals who have undergone rehabilitation and rearrests will be interviewed on the importance of each correction process. Further, individuals in charge of incarceration and rehabilitation centers will also be interviewed to compare the costs of the two methods. The secondary data will be gathered through a variety of scholarly articles such as articles, books, and reports. Additionally, drug-related crime statistics from different government reports will be collected. Qualitative research will be more effective in this case because it aims to get people’s opinions, views, and attitudes on the impacts of rehabilitation in terms of costs and overcrowding.  After the collection of data from different sources, a thematic analysis will be conducted. Specifically, common themes will be identified from the data and information gathered to determine the information. The analysis made from such data and information will form the basis for any conclusions made about the impact of rehabilitation on prison populations and the costs of running prison facilities.

Annotated Bibliography

Orrick, E. A., & Vieraitis, L. M. (2015). The cost of incarceration in Texas: Estimating the benefits of reducing the prison population. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 40(2), 399-415.

The main idea of this case study is that incarceration resulting from drug-related offenses in Texas is very expensive because it has resulted in the ballooning of the state budgets. As such, the authors suggest that alternative solutions, such as rehabilitation, can reduce prison populations and save on incarceration costs.

Byrne, J. M., Pattavina, A., & Taxman, F. S. (2015). International trends in prison are upsizing and downsizing: in search of evidence of a global rehabilitation revolution. Victims & Offenders, 10(4), 420-451.

This article’s main idea is that prisons worldwide are turning into rehabilitation as one of the approaches to downsize prisons through the use of treatment options for those charged and convicted of drug abuse. This article proposes the method of a global rehabilitation revolution that will see an abandonment of incarceration as the primary mechanism for handling drug-related crimes.

Lutman, B., Lynch, C., & Monk-Turner, E. (2015). De-demonizing the ‘Monstrous’ drug addict: A qualitative look at social reintegration through rehabilitation and employment. Critical Criminology, 23(1), 57-72.

In this article, the principal idea is that those found guilty of drug addiction charges should be correctly integrated through both rehabilitation and employment. The author considers the costs associated with incarceration as well as how incarceration can lead to recidivism. As such, the article proposes that drug addicts should be rehabilitated and finally employed to prevent them from engaging in further drug-related crime.

Clark, N., Dolan, K., & Farabee, D. (2017). Public health alternatives to incarceration for drug offenders. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 23(3).

This paper argues that many jurisdictions have come to recognize the various adverse effects of incarceration for those found guilty of drug-related offenses. It proposes that the provision of treatment and rehabilitation, as well as the social reintegration of drug offenders, can lead to the decongestion of prisons and better lives for the offenders.

Supchokpul, A. (2018). The Possibility of Using Electronic Monitoring as an Alternative to Imprisonment for Drug Offenders. International Journal of Crime, Law, and Social Issues, 5(1).

The authors of this paper appreciate the importance of finding alternatives to imprisonment. Specifically, they propose that the offenders’ electronic monitoring can be used as an approach to ensuring the betterment of drug offenders. Additionally, rehabilitation is touted; in the article as a possible method for dealing with drug offenders.

Ethical Standards

            To ensure that the final report is of the highest ethical standards, various ethical and legal responsibilities will be observed. First, the research will be conducted to respect and enhance the privacy and confidentiality of the participants. All the confidential and private information about the participants will not be revealed to third parties unless authorized. Further, the study will strictly follow the informed-consent rules. All the participants will be invited to participate in the process voluntarily, they will also be made aware of the importance of the research, the benefits, and the risks of participation in the research process. Third, the research will stick to the objectivity of the process. Here, the focus will be to determine the effectiveness of rehabilitation over-incarceration in reducing prisons’ high cost and overcrowding. Finally, the research will be conducted with a high degree of honesty. Any form of collusion of false information will be highly avoided. These are the major ethical and legal procedures that will guide the entire research process.

Conclusion

In a word, alcohol and drug abuse is a serious crime that attracts severe punishment. Nonetheless, a lot of questions are asked whether punishment (incarceration) is a better way to overcome drug addiction than treatment (rehabilitation). This study will address this issue, specifically about overcrowding and high imprisonment cost. Various literature will be reviewed, and both primary and secondary data will be collected to aid in quantitative research. The data will be analyzed through thematic analysis and conclusions drawn.