There are thousands of people in the United States that are addicted to cocaine and are left untreated. Many of them are at risk of severe health problems. I am conducting this research paper to compare and contrast the differences between the effectiveness of drug courts and cognitive behavioral therapy for cocaine addicts. We know that all people respond differently to therapy than others do, but it is good to be able to find the effectiveness and success rate of cognitive-behavioral therapy, and drug courts overall. But before we jump into the effectiveness of CBT, we need to know what the goal of CBT is and what the process is for CBT. Not only do we need to know the effectiveness and success rates of these two, but we also need to know the differences. We need to know the different paths that they take and how those different paths translate into success. Last but not least, we need to know what the best overall option is for clients. Every client is going to be different, but looking at drug courts and cognitive-behavioral therapy as a whole, figuring out the most successful treatment is the most important question to answer. Drug courts or cognitive-behavioral therapy is going to benefit the individual regardless; any sort of help is better than no help at all. We know that people react differently from these two treatments, but finding the overall best treatment is what we are looking to figure out. Cognitive behavioral therapy has had mixed findings for cocaine addicts. There has been one study conducted that concluded that CBT has better long-term success than any clinical management (Maude-Griffin et.al, 1998). Before we get in to successes and effectiveness, giving the basis of the goal of CBT needs to be known. Cog... ... middle of paper ... ...er. Going to either one of these is going to be better than not going to them at all. I would rather see someone go through a drug court or CBT and fail, than for them to never go at all, because that shows that they want to make a change in their life, and they want to be a better person. It is shown that CBT has had long- term success and that is ultimately what we want to see in patients. Thousands of people have addictions to drugs all across the United States that go left untreated and any sort of treatment will help. Looking at the overall picture of success and effectiveness and drug courts and CBT; CBT has been the more successful approach when it comes to drug addiction overall. I am not saying that drug courts are not successful, because they are, but if we are looking for long- term success, cognitive-behavioral therapy is the path that should be chosen.
Within our society, there is a gleaming stigma against the drug addicted. We have been taught to believe that if someone uses drugs and commits a crime they should be locked away and shunned for their lifetime. Their past continues to haunt them, even if they have changed their old addictive ways. Everyone deserves a second chance at life, so why do we outcast someone who struggles with this horrible disease? Drug addiction and crime can destroy lives and rip apart families. Drug courts give individuals an opportunity to repair the wreckage of their past and mend what was once lost. Throughout this paper, I will demonstrate why drug courts are more beneficial to an addict than lengthy prison sentences.
Penberthy, J. K., Ait-Daoud, N., Vaughan, M., & Fanning, T. (2010). Review of Treatment for Cocaine Dependence. Current Drug Abuse Reviews, 3(1), 49-62. doi:10.2174/1874473711003010049
Predictors of Treatment Outcome in a Drug Court Program. American Journal Of Drug & Alcohol Abuse, 31(4), 641-656.
David, A.G (2013). Cocaine use disorder in adults: Epidemiology, pharmacology, clinical manifestations, medical consequences, and diagnosis. ©2014 UpToDate, Inc.
Volkow, N. (2013). Cocaine. National Institute of Drug Abuse: The science of drug abuse and addiction, Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/directors-page
Right now in the United States there are over 2 million people incarcerated in the country’s prisons and jails. Out of this population about one-quarter of these inmates have been convicted of a drug offense. With drug offense arrests increasing nationwide and the prison population increasing there is an alternative to incarceration has been used over the past two decades in many cities across the country. This alternative is in the form of local drug courts that are now found in most major cities in the United States. A drug court is a specialized court in which the judge, prosecutor, public defender or private attorney, probation officers, and treatment counselors work together to help chemically dependent offenders obtain needed treatment and rehabilitation in an attempt to break the cycle of addiction and further criminal offenses. Some argue that treatment rather than incarceration is a waste of time and valuable resources that could be used elsewhere. Research however has shown that court ordered treatment is the best option for drug offenders. Treatments through drug court has proven to be less expensive than incarceration and has also been shown to reduce crime and provide a lower relapse and re-arrest rate for offenders that are placed in drug courts as opposed to those that are not.
The first therapy to discuss is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, otherwise know as CBT. The main focus of CBT therapy is a “functional analysis of the thinking and behavioral process” (Content Guide 4, n.d.). This being said, CBT has been effective in the treatment of those struggling with substance
In patient programs can also be very effective, especially for those with more severe problems. They are highly structured programs in which patients remain at a residence, typically for 6 to 12 months. Treatment Centers differ from other treatment approaches principally in their use of the community—treatment staff and those in recovery—as a key agent of change to influence patient attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors associated with drug use. Patients in TCs may include those with relatively long histories of drug addiction, involvement in serious criminal activities, and seriously impaired social functioning. The focus of the TC is on the resocialization of the patient to a drug-free, free living lifestyle and delivers healthy coping mechanisms for individuals that have not been able to function in society without the use of a mood altering substance.
Inciardi, Dr. James A., A Corrections-Based Continuum of Effective Drug Abuse Treatment. National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Avialable: http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/contdrug.txt
Substance abuse is a national problem. Prisons are overcrowded with these types of offenders. People will do anything to get these drugs ranging from petty theft to murder. People with substance abuse problems know no boundaries. All they think about is how they are going to get that drug for that day. Substance abusers do not care who they hurt or why they hurt them. A lot of people that are addicted hurt the people they love the most like children and parents. People in the prison system that has been convicted of violent crimes most of them say that they were under the influence of some type of drug or alcohol.
Silverman, K., Roll, J., & Higgins, S. (2008). Introduction to the Special Issue on the Behavior Analysis and Treatment of Drug Addiction. Journal of Applied behavior Analysis, 41(4), 471-480. Retrieved June 12, 2011, from the proquest.com.navigator-ship.passhe.edu database.
Drug addiction is more complicated than medicine thought in previous years. It’s not because someone is weak or unable to control themselves. They are chemical such a dopamine in the human body that makes the process difficult. The brain works in a neuropath way and drug interrupt the normal process which stops the frontal lobe to work as it should. Treatment isn’t done right and patients tend to repeat their habit after they get out of rehab. Psychological treatment is not as effective as chemical injection for dopamine to reward the brain. However, even after the treatment is complete, it will be a life struggle to stay away from drugs since the brain will always look for a simpler way to reward itself.
I believe drug courts are the most fair and effective way to deal with drug users. They may have their cons, but without these new program’s, we wont see an improvement for the use of drugs around our area. I believe the people putting these program’s together really want to see a change in not only our county, but other counties as well. Even helping a minor group of people, can still have an impact.
The drug court debate can be very controversial also; however, this program seems to be a better alternative for individuals who are addicted to drugs. Rather than being locked up in prison where they receive minimal care, they are actually getting the education and treatment they need to have a better life. Drug courts are specialized court programs responsible in handling substance abuse offenders through complete supervision, drug testing, treatment services and immediate sanctions and incentives. Instead of going straight to prison or jail, drug courts allow individuals the opportunity to be a part of a substance abuse recovery program. During the 1980’s, there were a surplus of drug offenders that entered into the correctional systems and judges found that over time after the offenders were sentenced and released, they would often end up right back in the system for the same offense (Contrino, Nochaiski, Farrell, & Logsdon, 2016).
The link between drug use and crime is not a new one. For more than twenty years, both the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Justice have funded many studies to try to better understand the connection. One such study was done in Baltimore on heroin users. This study found high rates of criminality among users during periods of active drug use, and much lower rates during periods of nonuse (Ball et al. 1983, pp.119-142). A large number of people who abuse drugs come into contact with the criminal justice system when they are sent to jail or to other correctional facilities. The criminal justice system is flooded with substance abusers. The need for expanding drug abuse treatment for this group of people was recognized in the Crime Act of 1994, which for the first time provided substantial resources for federal and state jurisdictions. In this paper, I will argue that using therapeutic communities in prisons will reduce the recidivism rates among people who have been released from prison. I am going to use the general theory of crime, which is based on self-control, to help rationalize using federal tax dollars to fund these therapeutic communities in prisons. I feel that if we teach these prisoners some self-control and alternative lifestyles that we can keep them from reentering the prisons once they get out. I am also going to describe some of today’s programs that have proven to be very effective. Gottfredson and Hirschi developed the general theory of crime.