Answer

Drug Rehabilitation v. Incarceration

America Intercontinental University

Thesis Statement

Prisons and jails cost the government huge 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 in which they can reduce the resources expedited on incarceration. Notably, in the US alone incur incarceration costs of around $80 billion per year (Lewis and Lockwood, 2019). However, such a figure is considered to be an underestimate of the true 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 the likelihood of 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 also reduce prison populations and ultimately, the cost of incarceration. The proposed study will research the impact of using rehabilitation as opposed to 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

            At the end of the study, it is expected that rehabilitation will be found to be an effective method for the resolution of the problem of the high number of prison populations as well as the high costs of running the prison and jails. Additionally, it is hypothesized that rehabilitation will be found to be a better alternative to incarceration because it leads to better lives for drug offenders who are socially reintegrated into society.  When more drug offenders are sent to rehabilitation, the prison populations decrease because a significant number of those incarcerated are those found guilty of different drug-related offences. Additionally, the costs of running prisons and jails are expected to reduce because, with a smaller number of prisoners, the amounts expended on providing for their stay in prison will be significantly reduced. However, it is vital to note that the effects of rehabilitation in the resolution of the problem of high costs and overcrowding of prisons and jails will evolve as the research progresses.

Measurement and Analysis

The key points that will be the focus of the proposed research are how rehabilitation can be used as an alternative to incarceration. Specifically, the study will seek to find out the effects that rehabilitation will have on the issues of high prison populations and high costs of running the prisons. Data on these issues will be gathered through a variety of scholarly articles. Articles, books, and reports will be used for the collection of vital information for the study. Additionally, drug-related crime statistics from different government reports will be gathered. After the collection of data from different sources, the analysis will be done via thematic analysis. Specifically, common themes will be identified from the data and information gathered to make meaning out the information. The analysis made from such data and information will then, 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 offences 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 lead to a reduction in prison populations and save on costs of incarceration.

Byrne, J. M., Pattavina, A., & Taxman, F. S. (2015). International trends in prison 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 all over the world are turning into rehabilitation as one of the approaches to downsize prisons through the use of treatment options for those charged and convicted with drug abuse. This article proposes the use 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.

The principal idea; in this article, is that those found guilty of drug addiction charges should be specifically 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 negative effects of incarceration for those found guilty of drug-related offences. As such, it proposes that the provision of treatment and rehabilitation, as well as the social reintegration of drug offenders, can lead to 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 electronic monitoring of the offenders can be used as an approach to ensuring the betterment of the drug offenders. Additionally, rehabilitation is touted; in the article, as a possible method for dealing with drug offenders.

Ethical Standards

            To make sure that the final report will be of the highest ethical standards, various ethical and legal responsibilities will be observed. One of those is ensuring that the resources used in the report are well referenced. Specifically, any information, from other scholars, used in the report will be well cited inside the report and at the end. Notably, it is vital to acknowledge other people work. As such, plagiarism will be avoided by ensuring that the work of others is acknowledged. The legal issue that will be considered is that of possible breach of intellectual property rights. The researcher will ensure that all works of others are acknowledged and cited in a standard manner to address this legal issue.