Curing the Blister by Amputating the Hand

Curing the Blister by Amputating the Hand

The United States Correctional System is often challenged as to whether it wants to rehabilitate drug offenders or punish them, and because of this it mostly does neither. Even though drug abuse and drug trafficking are widely spread national issues, the mental, social, and economic costs of "healing" through incarceration are only making the "disease" worse. Never before have more prisoners been locked up on drug offenses than today. Mixed with the extremely high risks of today's prison environment, the concept of incarceration as punishment for drug offenders cannot be successful. Without the correct form of rehabilitation through treatment within Michigan's Correctional System, drug offender's chronic recidivism will continue.

Half of the ex-convicts on parole in Michigan wind up back in prison within two years. Michigan's prison population fluctuates between 49,500 and 50,000 annually, costing taxpayers roughly $1.4 billion (Michigan Corrections 11). That equates to one quarter of the state's budget alone. In 2004, over 6,000 offenders were incarcerated for drug offenses in Michigan (Macallair). A report by the Justice Policy Institute found that there was almost as many inmates imprisoned for drug offenses alone in 2002 as the entire United States prisoner population in 1980. For more than 25 years our nation's correctional system has only adapted to this unprecedented increase and have yet to take true rehabilitating action. If the cost of an inmate for a year of incarceration is approximately $28,000 (Drug War Facts), that means the State of Michigan currently spends more than $160 million dollars each year to put away drug offenders. Why doesn't this expensive attack on the war on drugs actually produce results?

The act of a person repeating undesirable behaviour after they have already experienced negative consequences for it is referred

to as recidivism (Reducing Offender Drug Use). According to the Department of Justice, studies of recidivism say that "the amount of time inmates serve in prison does not increase or decrease the likelihood of recidivism, whether recidivism is measured as parole revocation, re-arrest, reconviction, or return to prison"(United States National Institute of Justice 21). How much does this apply to drug abuse? A comprehensive study of addiction by John Keene was conducted with three groups of convicts being surveyed, each group at different phases of incarceration. The first group of 134 prisoners was questioned as to whether they were using drugs before they were incarcerated. Almost 74% admitted to using some type of drug before they were imprisoned. In the second group of 119 inmates, 75% were using drugs while incarcerated. This specifically proves that it is very common for an inmate to use drugs while in prison. This also portrays an administration that cannot trust its own employees because, somehow, drugs find a way into the hands of inmates who never left the grounds of the prison. If that isn't disturbing enough, in the third group of 119 convicts more than 82% disclosed using drugs in their communities after release (Keene). How can a non violent drug abuser serving his time in prison attempt to rehabilitate himself and become less of a threat to the community when there is such a large prevalence of drugs inside prison?

Drugs are not the only risk affecting this hazardous prison environment. In the United States, "Very few prison programs even acknowledge the psychological risks of incarceration, and fewer still are designed to address the negative effects of imprisonment and the long-term problems these effects may produce" (Nurse, Woodcock and Ormsby). The prison environment is rarely considered rehabilitating. Some of the key disadvantages of the prison environment that influenced many inmate's mental health included isolation, lack of mental stimulation, drug misuse, corrupt relationships with prison staff, bullying, and lack of family contact (Erickson). For non violent drug offenders this environment is only fueling the fire. The prison culture is developed by the inmates values, beliefs, experiences and their desire to create a social order that they are comfortable with. As a result the inmates develop gangs formed along racial and ideological lines that encompass their own language, economy and power structure. Basically, it is a social world in which they live, work and play. Prisonization is the socialization process through which new inmates learn the acceptable norms and values of the prison culture. Because of the serious violence issues in our prisons inmates must quickly adapt to the prisonization process to ensure their safety (Bolger).

The prison environment has shifted from oppressive and safe for the inmates and corrections employees to an environment that is unstable and violent. It actually seems to be very similar to many cultures outside the prison walls. In most cases this culture is much more brutal and cruel than a non-violent drug offender's own community. Violence in prison leads to power and power is the most sought after commodity for prison gangs. There are 100 prison murders per year nationally and 26,000 reported assaults (Bolger). However, thousands of assaults are not reported because of the victims fear of retribution for "ratting" on a fellow inmate. Even worse rape in prison is an act of violence and control rather than an act of sex. Sex is available at a price. Although it is very difficult to obtain accurate statistics, estimates show that anywhere between 2% and 21% of male inmates are the victims of rape (Bolger). Most drug offenders have low level charges with mandatory sentences. This type of environment only provokes them to become a more dangerous and fearless criminal. How can this be the correct form of punishment for the offenses of low level drug abusers?

The choice theory states those who have chosen to violate our rules deserve to be punished (Bolger). Although retribution, or "getting even", is necessary to satisfy the needs of society, the offender must receive the punishment that he deserves, but no more. Incapacitation is defined as physically preventing criminals from committing crimes against those outside the prison thus, protecting the community. However, it is obvious that in the long run the affects of the prison environment

on non-violent, low-level drug offenders increases the threat to the community. As a result, of the 460,000 prisoners released yearly only 45% complete their parole and more than 40% return to prison (Drug War Facts) There is one proven form of punishment in this vicious cycle that benefits everyone involved and actually works.

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