Justice for prisoners
in the penal system has many facets. One
of those is the treatment of addiction and mental disorders. The National Institute of Health requests
that all prisoners be screened for disorders upon admittance (NIH 2010). However, this has not been implemented due to
the extent of the prison system and non-regulation. According to the National Bureau of Justice
Statistics 18% of inmates who met the criteria for drug dependence were treated
on admittance in 2002 (BJS 2005). Many
believe that prisoners should be punished for the crimes and not treated
medically on the federal dollar. Studies
show that treatment for addiction can prevent relapse and therefore prevent
re-incarceration for drug-related crimes after release.
A flaw in the National Institute of Health’s plan is the
physical screening of the prisoners. A
study done by Lee and Antin tested the categorization and naming of drugs by drug
users as opposed to researchers. They
found that drug users tended to categorize their drug use by consumption method
or social situation than by a common chemical name like “meths” or “cocaines”. Another potential problem was found with
personal drug reporting. Drug users
could recognize the street name of a drug they had used, but not knowing the
contents they would not be able to report it on a standardized survey under a
medical name. This causes biased
reporting, as the user could have taken for example “thizz” but would not list
it under “Ecstasy” though they have the same components (Lee and Antin 2011). Inaccurate reporting could lead to improper
treatment and a failure of the entire endeavor.
The
best way to treat addiction remains unknown.
There are hundreds of treatment options available, all based on three
main theories of addiction. The
Physical-Dependence theory says that people are addicted because they are
avoiding withdrawal symptoms. The
Positive-Incentive theory is the opposite, people are addicted because they
like the positive effects of the drug.
Finally, the Incentive-Sensitization theory states that people are
addicted because they anticipate liking the positive, even if the drug no longer
produces the positive effects (Pinel 2007).
Each of these theories have both strong evidence and clear
weaknesses. Treatments are generally
chosen for addicts based on which theory their specialist believes fits their specific
addiction.
The amount of treatment time would also differ between
prisoners. Addiction has two main
components: pharmacological and
behavioral. Pharmacological refers to
the physical changes in the brain which cause withdrawal. Using treatment methods such as drug
substitutes can help the brain return to homeostasis at a slower pace and
reduce withdrawal symptoms. However,
behavioral effects of addiction can last longer than pharmacological. If an addict is conditioned to always do
drugs in a specific location or with specific paraphernalia, after leaving prison
returning to those stimuli will provoke the addiction again (Solis 2013). Therefore, treatment must begin as soon as
addiction is detected, and continue through re-entry into society.
Providing prisoners with treatment options for a long
period of time could be expensive for the state and federal government. As of 2011, the National Bureau of Justice
Statistics states that the request for the drug control budget was 15,552
million dollars (BJS 2011). Implementing
the NIHs plan of required screening and treatment would greatly increase that
amount. However, treatment of addicts
has been shown to reduce future crime.
In an article published by the Journal of Experimental Criminology, drug
users were placed in either a “drug court” where they received intervention
methods or a “comparison group” which received little to no treatment. After an 18-month tracking period the data
showed “drug court participants averaging less than half as many criminal acts
(52.5 vs. 110.1) and drug-related criminal acts (38.1 vs. 100.4) as the
comparison group” (Green et al 2012).
Requiring screening and treatment for addiction in prison
systems is a complex issue. The justice
of medical treatment coincides with the lack of funding and social support for
the issue. More statistics need to be
known about both sides of the topic before an obligation can be set for
prisons.
Literature Cited
[NIH] National
Institute of Health. 2010. Fact Sheet:
Addiction and the Criminal Justice System.
[BJS] Bureau of Justice
Statistics. 2005. Substance Dependence, Abuse, and Treatment of
Jail Inmates, 2002.
Lee J and Antin T. 2011.
How do researchers categorize drugs and how do drug users categorize
them? Contemporary Drug Problems. 38:387-426.
Pinel J. 2007. Basics of Biopsychology. University of British Columbia: Pearson.
Solis M. 2013.
A lifeline for addicts.
Scientific American Mind. 24(1).
[BJS] Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2010.
ONDCP National Drug Control Budget:
FY 2011 Funding Highlights.
Green M, Kralstein D, and Rempel M. 2012. J Exp Criminol. 8:165-192.
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