Thursday, June 24, 2010
So much for the TLC approach of handling criminals with drug problems. Scotland, which has adopted the United States’ idea of drug courts, has found the specialized system does not reduce recidivism.
A study conducted by the Scottish government revealed that 50% of drug court offenders wound up back in jail within a year, and 71% within two years.
Addiction expert Stanton Peele says the problem with drug courts is that they focus so much on substance abuse that they don’t allow “people to develop skills,” nor do the courts assist them “with real-world coping resources.”
Many of the study participants said the treatment plans were inflexible and didn’t address their broader needs. “In short,” wrote Steele, “treatment was designed for a putative disease, rather than helping them to lead more productive lives.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Drug Courts: You'd Think They Would Work (by Stanton Peele, Huffington Post)
Review of the Glasgow & Fife Drug Courts (Scottish Government Community Justice Services)
Comments