Verified Document

Drug Courts One Of The Research Proposal

Juvenile drug courts are increasing in the United States, as a result of increasing availability of external funding, raising the question of what constitutes a "serious" juvenile drug user. Nearly half of all adolescents in the United States will try some form of illegal drug before they reach 18 years of age. However, the majority of these drug users are able to control their behavior and go on to lead productive lives (Church II, Wesley, 2006, 89)."

The drug courts take the adolescents and children out of a system that could ostensibly lead to more serious crimes, and supervises their individual case loads and success. Social workers and therapists from the drug programs that work with the children make regular appearances before the court, updating the judges on the individual progress of the kids. It is difficult to predict the exact number of kids who have been turned away from a life of more serious crimes through their successful pre-incarceration therapy, but researchers cite as positive a reduction in the number of the children and adolescents involved in drug related crimes (Church II, 89).

While not every one is the same, juvenile drug courts across the United States share several key components that have led to their overwhelming success. (33) the first component is its use of a non-adversarial approach to integrate alcohol and other drug treatment services with the justice system's traditional case proceedings. (34) This involves the use of alcohol and drug treatment clinicians in almost every phase of the drug court's proceedings in order to help the juveniles confront and eventually to overcome their addiction and abuse problems. (35) the next crucial step in almost all drug courts is to identify potential participants who may be eligible for the drug court program and quickly place them into the program's treatment process. (36) Due to the individualized treatment of each drug court participant, quick placement of an eligible juvenile helps that youth receive necessary treatment as soon as possible. Juvenile drug courts often receive many applicants because the participation and completion of the drug court program often lead to a complete dismissal of all charges brought against...

(37) Due to this appealing potential outcome, juvenile drug courts must be carefully selective when choosing who participates in the program, especially in light of the very finite resources that many drug court programs are forced to deal with (Harvey III, David L, 2004, 177)."
The drug courts have served to keep families together, and to keep the most vulnerable segments of our society out of the penal system. The opportunity for second chances in facing and dealing addiction by way of court supervised participation has proven itself to be what many women, children, and adolescents needed to provide structure and guidance in their lives.

References

http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5008140579

Armstrong, a. (2003). Drug Courts and the De Facto Legalization of Drug Use for Participants in Residential Treatment Facilities. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 94(1), 133+. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5008140579 http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5014292351

Church, W.T. (2006). Juvenile Drug Courts and Teen Substance Abuse. Social Work, 51(1), 89. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5014292351 http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5015865810

Harvey, D.L. (2004). Theories of Therapeutic Evolution for Juvenile Drug Courts in the Face of the Onset of the Co-occurrence of Mental Health Issues and Substance/alcohol Abuse. Journal of Law and Health, 19(1), 177+. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5015865810 http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000676855

Schwebel, R. (2002). Drug Courts and Adolescents. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 11(3), 176+. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000676855 http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000794018

What Does the Future Hold for Drug Courts?. (2002). Fordham Urban Law Journal, 29(5), 1858+. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000794018

Sources used in this document:
References

http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5008140579

Armstrong, a. (2003). Drug Courts and the De Facto Legalization of Drug Use for Participants in Residential Treatment Facilities. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 94(1), 133+. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5008140579 http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5014292351

Church, W.T. (2006). Juvenile Drug Courts and Teen Substance Abuse. Social Work, 51(1), 89. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5014292351 http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5015865810

Harvey, D.L. (2004). Theories of Therapeutic Evolution for Juvenile Drug Courts in the Face of the Onset of the Co-occurrence of Mental Health Issues and Substance/alcohol Abuse. Journal of Law and Health, 19(1), 177+. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5015865810 http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000676855
Schwebel, R. (2002). Drug Courts and Adolescents. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 11(3), 176+. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000676855 http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000794018
What Does the Future Hold for Drug Courts?. (2002). Fordham Urban Law Journal, 29(5), 1858+. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000794018
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Drug Courts
Words: 9065 Length: 20 Document Type: Term Paper

Drug Courts The Department of Justice of the United States of America, in order to cope with heavy work pressure, had to introduce a separate court for the sole purpose of dealing with criminal offenses committed by drug abusers and drug dependants. This concept has proved to be so successful that other countries of the world, including Australia, are now contemplating the introduction of a separate court for dealing with the

Drug Courts on Drug Abuse
Words: 2106 Length: 6 Document Type: Research Paper

The later stages focuses on dealing with the problems related to the drug use withdrawal like the withdrawal syndromes, the tendency to relapse. The later stages also focus on restoring the self dignity and also impacting the participant with the prerequisites to self-manage the drug abuse issue once the probation and treatment duration ends (Tara, 2007). The drug courts are also said to be significant to the economy of the U.S.

Effects of Drug Courts on Drug Abuse and Criminal Offending
Words: 1616 Length: 5 Document Type: Research Paper

Drug Courts: The Best Can Get Better Drug Courts Drug courts: the best can get better i Drug Courts: The Best Solution Can Get Better It has taken nearly two decades for consensus to solidify but now most authors agree that drug courts reduce recidivism and long-term social cost. Huddleston, Marlowe and Casebolt argue that "no other justice intervention can rival the results produced by drug courts" (2008, p. 2). Drug courts are the most

Criminal Policy of Drug Court
Words: 3736 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

Drug Courts: A Program to Reinvent Justice for Addicts For the past several decades, drug use has had an overwhelming effect upon the American justice system, with drug and drug-related crime being the most common offense in almost every community (Drug Strategies, 1996). Beyond the troubling ability of these problems to fill prisons to capacity, the traditional judicial system seemed to have no deterrent effect on these crimes (Drug and Crime

Green County Drug Court the Green County
Words: 788 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Green County Drug Court The Green County court system has finally decided to implement a "drug court" to bring about some much-needed changes in the current system. The county has authorized a new judge and is debating the merits whether that individual should be elected or appointed. The court is also considering the questions of whether it should operate on a due process model or a crime control model and whether

Juvenile Drug Courts
Words: 3028 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

Juvenile drug courts are among the most recent innovations in the treatment of substance-involved adolescents in the justice system. Their emergence in the 1990s was driven by the rising rates of substance abuse among adolescents -- a 2000 report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, for instance, showed that substance usage among high school students had risen substantially in the 1990s, with almost 9.5% being cocaine users; a

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now