The Pros And Cons Of Rehabilitation

For decades, the U.S. has used prison to punish criminals. And, the amount of drug users in this “rehabilitation” is staggering. However, as our use of this institution has grown, the amount of drug users has definitely not shrunk. Much of the time, when a drug-user is sent to prison for their use, they seek out drugs again once they’re released. Our current system is not working. We sent these people off to prison, and they come back miserable and hardened criminals, but still using drugs. We punish, but we do not offer a solution. We only create more problems. This usually ends up with the offender being charged again, being sent to a longer sentence, and the brutal cycle continues. This has to change. We have to find other methods. In the U.S, federal prisons should not be the main method of rehabilitating drug-related offenders because it’s not nearly as effective as alternative methods, and ends with more recidivism rates than alternative methods. To begin with, let’s focus on the issues with the system currently. We have an
There are currently systems in place that are alternatives to prison (though much less widely known about), and they had much more productive results. In fact, there was a DTAP program in LA that centered around treating the drug problem through therapy, rather than sending people to prison. “‘Arrest rates during treatment were substantially lower than arrest rates during the two years preceding treatment, and completion of treatment was associated with the greatest reductions in arrest rates’” (Mcvay). This treatment dealt with the behavioral issues, which meant there was less chance of another crime being committed. This is an enormous improvement over the results we see with federal prisons. In summary, we see much less recidivism with alternative programs, making it a more promising way to rehabilitate those who’ve committed drug-related