Drugs and Crime Despite Efforts Article Review

The third issue discussed is that of the juvenile justice systems. Most youth when convicted at a young age and put into these juvenile detentions enter a world that they rarely escape from. Once they go into this system, very rarely is there enough support to keep them out. In order to make these programs work, staff need to be better compensated, more professional mentors are needed to encourage youth to make something more of themselves, and better follow-up is needed (Anglin et al., 2009). Youth who are addicted to drugs have to be treated differently and in a different infrastructure for them to actually get help. Putting them into a detention hall with other violent youth, will only make them become more violent and therefore increase crime rates.

The fourth and last issue discussed was the need to have more gender-specific treatment when it comes to women. More than half of incarcerated women were under the influence of drugs when committing a crime, about 20% have a co-occurring mental disorder, and have a higher STI and HIV rate than incarcerated men (Anglin et al., 2009). These numbers show the importance of addressing women's issues separately than those of men, which in most cases does not happen. In order to properly tackle a problematic situation, a proper resolution needs to be presented.

In order to make a difference in the crime rate that society has, the issue of drug usage needs to be resolved. Treating individuals who have drug addictions as criminals their whole life will only bring on more problems. Implementing resolutions as those offered by Anglin et al. (2009), will improve neighborhoods, reduce prison populations, and end family cycles of violence, crime, and drug addiction. It will be the only way to resolve issues that for so long, have dominated low socioeconomic neighborhoods and minority cultures. It was surprising to read how ineffective current programs have been, and how easily they could be remedied if only the right policies and ideals were in place. This made me hopeful that there can be a solution to what seems to be a never-ending problem, but in order for this to occur, all parties involved need to see eye-to-eye and be on the same page.

References:

Anglin, M.D., Brown, B.S., Dembo, R., & Leukefeld, C. (2009). Criminality and addiction:…