STUDENT REPLY

STUDENT REPLIES

STUDENT REPLY #1 Stephanie Gural

My view on the current policies and practices in the criminal justice system addressing the root cause of the crime is defiantly no. When an individual is arrested for drug use, this individual should be given treatment as they would if they entered a rehab facility. If an individual is arrested for a crime, they committed that could possibly be due to a mental illness, that individual should receive mental health therapy as they would in a mental health facility.

I have recently started watching a documentary on A&E "60 days in", this show has participants pose as real inmates for 60 days, to be able to uncover what goes on in the facility. As well as how being in jail effects a person’s life once they have been incarcerated. While watching this documentary I have saw many inmates who are arrested because they claim drugs are easier and cheaper to get in jail. There is no support system in place for addicts to get the proper rehabilitation they need. Therefore, jailing these inmates is only a temporary fix while they are incarcerated.

After following the case study of Joseph Keen, I do believe if he was given the proper anger management treatment after he was arrested for strangling his wife. He spent 3 years in prison, with his mental health history Joseph should have received counseling and possibly medicated for his mood disorder. If Joseph would have received the proper treatment while he was in prison for 3 years, he probably would not have conducted in the extreme violent behavior which resulted in the death of Victor.

I can also understand as a parent you would do whatever it takes to protect your children. In this case if Joseph had the proper anger management and treatment for his mental health condition, he probably would have handled the situation differently, by calling the local law enforcement and having Victor arrested.

STUDENT REPLIES

STUDENT REPLY #2 Michaela Szewczyk

I think that there is so much variance from state to state, and even from county to county within each state, for the root causes of crime to be addressed on a national level. There are many states and counties that have chosen to utilize drug court programs, which send first time, low risk offenders who are facing drug charges to a rehabilitation program. Some of these are inpatient and some are outpatient, but their care is coordinated between the judge, a parole officer or case worker, and the individual themselves. If they successfully follow through with the court orders and graduate from the drug court program, their charges are dropped. If they fail to attend meetings, or have a failed drug test, they go back to 'regular' court and the case proceeds that way. Studies have found that an average of 66% of drug court graduates are re-arrested, as opposed to 81% of non-participants (Emigh, 2017). While this is proof that drug court can work, it shows that there is room for improvement. Since this data was collected throughout the nation, it shows that there may not be enough resources available, to keep graduates from re-offending, or to keep people in the program in the first place. I think streamlining the drug court program would be a great way to help address some of the root causes of crime in our country.

I think if Joseph Keen had served a longer sentence for his attempted murder of his wife, maybe Victor wouldn't have been murdered. Three years seems like an awfully short time to serve in prison for attempted murder. Alcohol also seems to be a large trigger for Joseph, and while whether his cognitive function is distorted by alcohol, or if he is actually a psychopath is unclear from the notes in the case study, I think he could have benefited from a substance abuse treatment (SAT) program. Per Bondurant et al., (2018), "SAT could be expected to reduce violence by: (i) reducing the use of drugs that lead to aggressive behavior (though there may be some offsetting effects caused by withdrawal)". I believe the combination of a more aggressive treatment program for his alcoholism and a longer sentence for his attempted murder would not only have reduced the risk of Victor's murder, but also helped to change more of the family dynamic altogether.

References:

Bondurant, S. R., Lindo, J. M., & Swensen, I. D. (2018). Substance Abuse Treatment Centers and local crime. Journal of Urban Economics, 104, 124–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2018.01.007

Emigh, M. (2017, September). The efficacy of Drug Courts. Are Drug Courts Effective? | Drug Court Success Rate | Drug Court Statistics. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.ebpsociety.org/blog/education/271-efficacy-drug-courts.