Reflective Discussion post minimum 400 words

User Generated

Xnl4

Business Finance

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Review and reflect on the Impacts on Criminal Justice System Discussion Board. Based on your review and reflection of new learnings in this course, write at least 400-600 words on the following:

  • What have you learned from others' responses?
  • What were the most compelling points from the interaction with your fellow students?
  • How did participating in this discussion help in your understanding of the Discussion Board task?
  • What approaches could have yielded additional valuable information in the students' networking?

Student response down below to my post:

Krystal- Thank you for your post!

During my research I found that sometimes substances can sometimes cause an individual to be a victim, either they are impaired and cannot fight back or their drug use allows for re-victimization. This can show the further impact that substances can have on a victim. In some instances, victims will turn to drugs and alcohol as a form of relief from the painful memories associated with the attack. In this instance, victims services should be equipped to handle drug and alcohol addictions. As you said with the offenders, they need to have access to evidenced based treatment services. We were in agreement on that front, that prisoners with substance use disorders, should have access to treatment services. Another thought would be making drug offenses, like possession, not have as harsh of punishment. These offenders may benefit from outpatient therapies or residential treatment. I think the first thought is to lock them away, but inevitably they will get out and not be any wiser on how to handle their addictions.

Student discussion post I felt compelling:

Drugs and alcohol can affect not only the user, but families, friends and communities.It causes significant problems with in the criminal justice system, not only with the system, but offenders and victims.Unfortunately you typically do not have one without the other, meaning that drug use and criminal activity work together to cause damaging consequences to every aspect of the system. It is estimated that 80% of offenses that include jail or prison time are related to drugs and or alcohol, (Alcohol, Drugs and Crime, 2015).This can cause a chain reaction within the entire system, making it more difficult to get under control and treat.This includes victims as they run the risk of using drugs or alcohol to cover up the pain of the crime.

Victims of crimes, as mentioned, can become addicts themselves.Drugs and alcohol are time and again used for self-medicating purposes.Drugs help to each emotional pain and help people to forget difficult situations and emotional struggles.Alcohol helps with anxiety and cocaine can help with low energy which is a symptom of several behavioral diagnoses such as PTSD, which can be caused by crimes. (The Connection Between Mental Illness and Substance Abuse, 2018) Crimes against victims also cause emotional issues as they struggle to find resources to help them recover from the crime that was committed.An example of this would be alcohol induced domestic violence.Domestic violence victims may have physical injuries, emotional, financially and even housing concerns.Housing may become a community resource that is needed, however, there may or may not be any resources available at the time.This causes even more damage.

The offenders are also faced with struggles of their own.According to one site, “approximately 60% of individuals arrested for most types of crime test positive for illegal drugs at arrest,” (Alcohol, Drugs and Crime, 2015).Because of this, criminals, rightly so are being punished for their crimes, but what about their addiction.Services are typically not provided in jails and if they are provided in the prisons, they are not adequate.Resources would be more appropriately spent if the criminals were provided treatment while serving their time.They would have a much better chance at no relapsing once they were released.(Fox-Bolte, 2018)

There are several things communities and the criminal justice system can do in order to help criminals, offenders and the system itself.Victims and criminals need more accessible to treatment before crimes are committed.Treatment is expensive and hard to get into, causing the lack of hope for bettering their lives.This could also help to allocate federal, state and local funding in a different direction in order to have resources available to the victim such as housing, or the criminal for more of an inpatient treatment program during jail/prison time.The criminal justice system would then be able to focus on preventing crime in the first place.


Another compelling post:

The impact of the use of drugs and alcohol impacts not just the user but many others as well, such as the crime victims as well as the criminal justice system. It is well known that substance abuse and crime go hand in hand especially when including other circumstances such as their environmental and psychological standing points. With that being said it has not been proven that drugs actually cause individuals to commit the crimes.

Crime victims are affected in many ways. After an individual has endured a traumatic event they may suffer from psychological damage, they may now live in fear of the same thing happening to them again. They may be skittish and have trouble sleeping or even trusting anyone. There are even worse cases where individuals are physically harmed; they may have suffered from abuse physically, sexually or emotionally. Then there are tragic cases where a person decided to drive under the influence and severely injured someone or even taken a life, in this case many people can be deeply affected such as family members and loved ones.

Criminal offenders are affected in many ways as well; their bodies take a toll as well as their brain and physical appearances, their health diminishes and with alcohol abuse comes a burden on their social and economic wellbeing (2008 ). Drug abusers may end up incarcerated more times than usual due to their behaviors.They no longer think clearly and make poor decisions, as well as their behaviors being strange and out of the norm. Not socializing, stealing, lying, not going to work and completely detaching themselves from family and friends. They may have a drug issue because of past traumatic events they may have experienced themselves or maybe they were brought up in a not so great family.

The criminal justice system is filled with offenders that are where they are due to having been charged with a drug crime or crimes. These offenders may be addicts and may have been under the influence while committing the crime. Most of these offenders are often reoffenders because they do not get the proper help that they need.

The interventions that can be implemented could be anything from more educating on the effects of drug abuse as well as stricter laws on prescription pain medicine, a lot of substance abuse issues start with a simple prescription. I think having lower doses and for shorter periods of time can make a big difference. Doctors now will write out prescriptions for anything without thinking twice, there should be a more thorough exam and test to accurately show that there is a serious need to prescribe them. Another implementation would be more security within the jails and prisons; there are many inmates that are getting their hands on pills and drugs while incarcerated. Also having the families and communities come together as a support network and focusing on the reduction of harm that is caused by addictions such as alcoholism (Robson & Marlatt, 2006:255)

Another compelling post:

Today's society is bombarded with reprehensible acts of violence that can be directly linked to criminal behavior and chemical dependency. These issues inundate victims and the criminal justice system with what most would consider unnecessary circumstances that could have been prevented if many of the offenders could have gotten some type of therapeutic intervention to assist with their dependence or addiction to chemicals such as drugs and alcohol. Although some crimes can be attributed to the need of money, the sell and distribution of drugs is also of great concern to those who are affected.

Crime victims who have fallen prey to such issues as robbery or domestic violence have a formidable recovery in front of them because there is no rhyme or reason that can be offered to help transcend what has happened to them. Domestic violence is the use of control over another for the sake of dominance and power to literally break an individual's will. This type of crime can be linked to economic instability in the relationship or family unit causing emotional, mental, and physical harm to those affected leaving them to feel afraid and alone in the situation. There are resources available for the victims at most state levels, however a victim of domestic violence may be afraid to reach out for funding available to them (Fox-Bolte, 2018) due to fear of retaliation from the aggressor.

Criminal offenders are negatively impacted by not receiving the therapeutic interventions that are desperately needed to counter balance their addiction which has probably led to their introduction in the criminal justice system. Violent behaviors or tendencies are associated with "psychopharmacological crimes" (Colorado Technical University, 2018) is linked to alcohol and drug abuse so having therapy and counseling services as well as inpatient treatment options available will create a balanced mindset for the individual who is accused and convicted of violent acts. The need to commit a crime for the purpose of gaining monetary funds creates economic issues for the offender as well as the community where these crimes take place. These types of crimes are linked to high unemployment rates which is taxing on the community as a whole.

The criminal justice system is overloaded with criminal cases linked to drug and alcohol use and abuse, so more often than not, cases will get thrown out or the offenders receive much lighter sentences which may not require time in prison. Drug treatment and prevention techniques (Colorado Technical University, 2018) are the most important aspect that the criminal justice system has to offer that can rehabilitate and teach an individual how to function in society however it is all too often that these services are not available until a crime has been committed and the damage has been done to victims and the community where the actions took place.

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Explanation & Answer

Here is the answer for this. Let me know in case of anything.

Running head: REFLECTION ON THE IMPACTS OF DRUG ABUSE ON THE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Reflection on the Impacts of Drugs on the Criminal Justice System
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date

1

REFLECTION ON THE IMPACTS OF DRUGS ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Reflection on the Impacts of Drugs on the Criminal Justice System
What Have You Learned from Other's Responses?
It is true that drugs and substance abuse has a significant impact on the criminal
justice system. It is worth noting that both crime and drug addiction go hand in hand in that
one influences the other. In most cases, it is hard to mention crime without substance abuse
and addict...


Anonymous
I was having a hard time with this subject, and this was a great help.

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