Substance abuse and addiction have changed the nature of America's prison
population. Alcohol, drug abusers, addicts, and those who sell illegal drugs
dominate state, federal prisons and local jails. Crime and alcohol and drug
abuse go hand in hand. Much of the growth in America's inmate population is due
to incarceration of drug law violators. With appropriate treatment for substance
abuse and addiction, rehabilitation is possible for many of today's prisoners.
Once they leave prison they also need continuing aftercare, education and job
training. Without treatment and training, most will commit more crimes, get
arrested and go back to prison. The choice is ours as well as theirs. Having a
group counseling program consisting of 8 to 10 members and one or more trained
Chemical Dependency Counselors would be beneficial. The purpose of the group is
to provide a safe as well as a challenging place in which to work on personal
and interpersonal concerns. Members can discuss their perception of each other
and receive feedback on how others perceive them. Establishing trust allows
group members to talk openly and honestly. Groups offer opportunity to
experiment with different ways of communicating with others and a safe place to
try new behaviors. They are able to give support and understanding, offer
suggestions, or gently confront the person. Counselor and group members work
together to establish trust and commitment to the group. Those who benefit most
are usually those who take an active part in the process and who allow
themselves to give and receive honest, helpful feedback. The following is
information that I obtained from Lt. Kevin Peters at California Institute for
Men. In 1980 the State of California had 12 prisons with 32,000 inmates. Today
California has 33 prisons with 144,00 inmates. California Institution for Men (CIM)
houses 6,500 of these inmates. Over 90% of the inmates at CIM are being
incarcerated due to related alcohol and drug crimes. The average sentence is
41.4 months with inmates serving only 21.3 months. One inmate costs taxpayers
approximately $232,291.00 for their 21.3 month incarceration, $150,000 for
arrest and conviction, another $45,000 for additional bed and $21,470 for
housing per year. CIM says 59% to 69% of the inmates are repeat offenders and
have served time before. CIM feels it is just a place to house inmates and that
there is no structure for rehabilitation. It is not their job to rehabilitate.
CIM also states that the inmates have access to programs, such as AA, NA and
Control of Substance Abuse for Mental Health. CIM feels that if an inmate wants
to attend a program, it is available. It is not mandatory for them to attend and
they cannot force an inmate to do so. The desire must be there for the inmate.
Most inmates do not attend these programs since they are not mandatory. Most of
the inmates dropped out of school due to substance abuse, the major contributing
factor regarding their lack of interest in education. Additionally, many inmates
come from poverty backgrounds. Why do we continue to release prisoners back to
the community still using and still dealing, to commit further crimes and
threaten our well-being and that of our children without treating the problem
for which they went to prison? I feel that prisons would be a good place to
develop the rehabilitation of offenders with substance abuse. The prison system
needs to take on a mandatory substance abuse treatment program for all inmates
incarcerated due to crimes related to drug use. Continuing to fund and build
more prisons for housing offenders of drug abuse are a waste of taxpayers'
money. Our prisons are full and the majority of inmates get early releases due
to the problem of overcrowding, only to go out and commit more crimes. Drug
addiction is a chronic disease. We treat people who have cancer, heart problems
or any other disease. Although, the addicts have committed a crime, it doesn’t
change the fact that they have a disease, we must also treat those who have the
disease of addiction. Looking over the different therapeutic community drug
abuse treatment in prisons throughout the country, we may ask, why haven't all
prisons adopted a program to treat inmates with an addiction on a mandatory
basis? We must target these institutions because they house the parents of
children and their child's future. If the parents are setting the example that
drugs are okay and are doing time and repeated time, then what kind of future is
in store for these children? Statistics show and prove that prisons can be a
place to begin the rehabilitation of offenders with a history of drug abuse.
Inmates enter the program approximately 12 to 18 months prior to being released.
Separated from the rest of the facility in a safe and clean environment, they
must obey all rules of the facility, be instructed on the rational model, have a
structure to follow, and be taught new skills so as they will not return back to
society without a plan. Furthermore, give them guidelines on new behaviors,
dealing with feelings, thoughts and conflicts. Learn to follow direction,
acceptance of authority, become accountable, start connecting with others and
how to relate to each other. This helps them to build trust, support, personal
growth and teaches them how to make commitments. In a therapeutic community,
which is a work release facility, they learn to cope without being in a secure
environment and reenter society with a healthy outlook. They will continue to
receive care and education about their addiction. They will attend NA, CA, AA
and other programs that help them in their course of treatment. They need to be
participating in counseling and group therapy for an additional six (6) months
after they leave work release, while they are on parole or other supervised
release. Since drug use, violence and negative attitudes about drug abuse
treatment pervade prisons, work release centers can make rehabilitation
difficult. The program should separate participants from the rest of the
correctional population. This enables residents to create an atmosphere that
encourages them to help themselves go about their day-to-day jobs, meetings,
recreational and social activities. They learn to take responsibility for their
actions, shed the negative patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that
contributed to their drug use. They acquire positive social attitudes and
behaviors that can help them achieve a responsible drug-free lifestyle. The Drug
Court program allows nonviolently, drug-addicted offenders to plead guilty to
charges and receive voluntary drug treatment instead of going to jail. This is a
community based sentencing and treatment program for those arrested for drug
crimes. Drug Courts use drug testing to ensure that program participants stay
drug-free. They are subject to sanctions for failing to comply with their
treatment regimens and receive incentives for progress. If they continue to fail
to comply with all the program rules' it will result in expulsion from the
program and incarceration. "Drug courts have a strong track record showing
how the influences of the courts help drug-addicted offenders acknowledge their
addiction, get treatment, and live better lives. A study conducted for the state
of California provides the most comprehensive cost-benefit examination to date
on the effectiveness of substance abuse treatment. Examining all treatment
programs in the state, researchers concluded that every dollar spent on
treatment resulted in $7.00 savings on reduced crime and health care cost.
Although these programs are not going to work for every single individual, it
will work for some, and it becomes obvious that by not sending back just one
person to prison, we save $21,470.00 for the housing of an inmate for one year,
and also giving that individual back their life. The bottom line is, that by
having rehabilitation in prisons and using the Drug Courts as an incentive, it
pays in lower recidivism. We can reduce crime and lower cost for incarceration.
There will be fewer broken families. Thus, there will be less use of welfare and
social services. This will decrease prison crowding, and avoid new prison
construction. I feel that we also need to improve on remedial education within
the prison system. California correctional survey reports, 19% of state inmates
have less than an 8th grade education. 78% have not completed high school. 40%
cannot read and up to 80% may have learning disabilities. We definitely have an
urgent need for effective remedial education. Also, we need to teach job skills
that would be beneficial to each individual. The final outcomes of
rehabilitation, are discipline, drug and alcohol treatment, education,
employment, restitution, community service and counseling, which will benefit
inmates. This will help them to create a better life when released.