Drug Use and Juvenile Crime
Department Policy and Issue Selection
The public policy issue of concern in this research is drug use and juvenile crime. Drug abuse is one of the issues that immensely affects the young people. Abuse of the drugs results in the families of the young people and the community suffering. In most of the cases, drug abuse is linked to juvenile crime. Welsh and Harris (2016) opine that there is a strong association between drug abuse and an increased burden on the juvenile justice system. The use of illicit drugs among the youths has been steadily rising. Based on the statistics by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2014), high school seniors are among the youths who frequently abuse drugs. The U.S. Department of Justices’ Office of Justice Programs report that most juvenile detainees have a history or are convicted due to drug abuse. One of the studies under this program showed that 77 % of juveniles in correctional facilities had abused Marijuana in the past six months prior to their conviction (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014). Half of the juveniles under this study were reported to have disorders associated with substance use.
The arrest cases of drug-related crimes remains high among juveniles as compared to other cohorts. Most of the arrests are linked to underage drinking violations and drug abuse (Welsh & Harris, 2016). Several problems can be linked with the juveniles entering the criminal justice system. Such problems include emotional disturbances, family problems, sexual abuse, emotional disturbances, and academic failure (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014). Addressing the issues associated with juvenile crime requires a comprehensive assessment of the offenders, treatment, and provision of support services. Use of evaluation is essential since not all drug abuse cases call for treatment. On the other hand, there are some of the cases that need intervention from juvenile drug cohorts and juvenile detention. As such, drug use is frequently associated with crime, hence, a juvenile detainment policy should be incorporated in the reduction of the crime and drug abuse cases.
Welsh and Harris (2016) assert that tackling of issues associated with juvenile offenders necessitates incorporation of a policy that addresses the challenges they face, especially from their family background. Families can either impose a positive or negative effect in the recovery of juveniles from substance abuse and indulging in criminal activities (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014). The risk factors that expose the juveniles to drugs abuse and crime activities include physical and sexual abuse by the family members as well as substance abuse and delinquent behavior. For effective treatment of drug abuse and juvenile crime, the department policy emphasizes on using family-based treatment as a way of targeting family functioning and increasing the involvement of family members in the recovery of the affected juveniles (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014). In addition to the impact of the juvenile justice criminal system, family-based treatment is an essential strategy for combating juvenile crime and drug use. Use of family interventions and the juvenile criminal justice system is a departmental policy that is utilized in strengthening the families while at the same time decreasing delinquent behavior.
Use of the justice system services is one of the policies that can be used by the state and federal government in the fighting of drug use and juvenile crime. This option can only be effective if it focuses on preventing youth violence rather than focusing on imposing larger penalties to the offenders (Welsh & Harris, 2016). Through the use of the departmental policy, the justice system can use an approach whereby comprehensive services are imposed to fit the needs of the individual youths rather than trying to fit the youths into inflexible programs.
Historical Analysis
Modern juvenile drug courts are dockets established within juvenile courts to deal with cases involving substance abuse among youths. Unlike the past where all juvenile cases, such as delinquency and drug abuse, were addressed in the same law courts, the policy governing behavior and welfare of juveniles led to the creation of juvenile courts, which offered specialized treatment to drug abusers. The aim of instituting drug involved juvenile courts was to reduce substance abuse and recidivism. This program allows intensive supervision of the youths under judicial assessment unlike the past policy available in traditional juvenile courts’ processes. The first juvenile drug court instituted in Key West, Fla, in 1993, served as a stepping stone to the establishment of more juvenile drug courts (Office of Justice Programs, 2017). According to the Office of Justice Programs (2017), by 2009, there were around 500 juvenile drug courts. The program evolved to target a specific demographic group of youths all under eighteen years of age. The drug court program aimed at addressing specific characteristics depicted in juveniles such as substance abuse history, criminal history, and offence type. Therefore, the drug court programs have evolved into not only enforcing policies enacted, but also policies, which are considerate of different characteristics of offenders.
Court cases such as Kent v. United States (1966) have shaped the way courts handle juveniles. For instance, this case saw the Supreme Court rule that minors can be tried and punished as adults. Similarly, cases such as Vernonia School District v. Acton (1995) also helped provide a basis for drug tests among student athletes and determining whether schools infringed the privacy of students when asking for urine samples among other policies. These cases have seen juvenile courts handle cases such as a resent 2012 case where a juvenile was convicted for drug trafficking. Moreover, the Queens (NY) Treatment Court came up with a drug court program to address juvenile drug abuse cases in Queens County, New York (Office of Justice Programs, 2017). Based on the program, first-time nonviolent drug offenders were charged in this court and provided with drugs and alcohol treatment services. This program is efficient and marked as an evolution of public policies related to drug abuse and juvenile delinquency. Notably, the program produced one of the greatest recidivism impacts of drug courts ever recorded to date (Office of Justice Programs, 2017).
The previously discussed historical evolution evolved the public perception on dealing with juvenile substance abuse and delinquency through the use of legal methods. With the increment of juvenile drug courts to about 500 in 2009, the issue of substance abuse in youths was expected to decline. Therefore, the policy evolvement shed hope to the public on tackling of juvenile delinquency and drug abuse. More parents are now comfortable to have a system that can handle their children in case they indulge in substance abuse and provide correctional measures. Moreover, the public has also seen that
The state and federal policies may continue to evolve based on the demands of the public. With an increase in the number of juvenile substance abuse cases, better policies that can directly impact a positive change to the youths are likely to be enacted. For instance, drug court programs may with time focus on collection and analysis of data on factors causing increases in substance abuse and key indicators such as school attendance, behavior change, recidivism rates, and completion rates. Moreover, correctional facilities may soon work to incorporate the input of youths and past convicted juveniles in improving how correctional facilities work.
Criminological Theory
Based on the social disorganization theory, the social and physical environment in which a person lives in affects their behavioral choices (Cornish & Clarke, 2014). This theory links the characteristics of a neighborhood to its crime rates. It emphasizes that a place where a person resides in matters. For instance, someone who lives in a neighborhood with fraying social structures is likely to engage in high crime rates; one with poor schools, vandalized buildings, and high rate of unemployment is likely to expose the person to drug abuse. The changes in the community lead to a transformation of youths’ behavior. With a decline in the economic status of a country, the levels of unemployment keep inclining, hence, increasing crime and drug abuse among juveniles. Therefore, the policies keep changing based on social disorganization theory.
The department of health services is mandated to help youths and other people recover from drug abuse. Through the social disorganization theory, a region that exposes youths to high crime and drug abuse rates is likely to have departmental policies considerate of the causes of crime (Cornish & Clarke, 2014). As such, funds and treatment may not be the solution in some cases. The department should rather enact a law that deals with drug distributors.
Moreover, the enacted policy should be directed at first dealing with aspects within the environment that expose youths to drug abuse and crime. Based on the theory, by eliminating causal factors in such an environment, crime rates and substance abuse, can be immensely reduced. Federal public policy on juvenile drug abuse and delinquency agrees that such cases involving underage youths should be addressed in juvenile law courts (Cornish & Clarke, 2014). Therefore, the number of these courts and rehabilitation facilities should be increased in high-risk areas.
Needs
Youths who engage in crime not only waste their capability to invest their skills in building the economy of a nation, but also often participate in the destruction of the economy. According to Pardini (2016, p.257), “Juvenile crime is a serious public health problem that exacts a significant financial and emotional toll on society”. Getting away with resources of monetary value and destruction of property also contributes to a significant burden on the community. On the other hand, Saloner, McGinty, and Barry (2015) assert that engaging in abuse of hard drugs is often associated with crime. Therefore, the two offenses go hand in hand. There is a need for addressing substance abuse and juvenile crime given their adverse effects in society. As a way of mitigating such financial loss, specific laws dealing with the behavior of youths should be enacted to safeguard the welfare of citizens.
Pardini (2016, p.257) notes that “Adolescents who engage in significant delinquent behavior are also at high risk for experiencing multiple deleterious outcomes in adulthood, including mental and physical health problems.” As such, drug abuse among youths exerts an emotion toll to the society. Such youths grow to become adults who suffer from different problems in their relationships and relating to the community. Moreover, drug abuse has been associated with various mental illnesses (Pardini, 2016). “The majority of youth entering the juvenile justice system are placed on community probation, depending on the seriousness of their offense (Acoca, Stephens& Van Vleet, 2014, p.1).” Therefore, the juvenile criminal justice system should establish more policies that not only correct the behavior of youths who engage in juvenile crime, but also rehabilitate youths who engage in drug abuse.
The juvenile justice system, which is expected to regulate juvenile crime and drug abuse, has so far developed various measures to oversee alleviation of these situations in the society. In addition to community probation, other alternatives are available based on the seriousness of offenses (Saloner et al., 2015). Juveniles who do not respond to immediate sanctions are in most cases detained based on the court’s ruling. There are many resources based on this branch of justice system responsible for overseeing that juveniles do not go back to substance abuse. Therefore, the justice system has so far enacted departmental policies, which strive to regulate offenses committed by youths. Although juvenile crime has been declining since 1997, there is a need to improve on the available policies or else enact more policies to prevent an increase in the number of convicted juveniles.
Policy Recommendations
Some of the recommended departmental policies that can improve service delivery in the juvenile justice system include health care coverage for youths in juvenile justice care and policies to reduce drug abuse. There is a need to rehabilitate youths who engage in substance abuse as a way of ensuring they do not reengage in this vice once they are out of the correctional facility. Saloner et al. (2015) posit that most youths who engage in drug abuse do it as a result of peer pressure or family or personal hardships. Therefore, there is a need for assessing why most offenders engage in drug abuse or crime and help by solving causal aspects. Nonetheless, there is a need for a succinct departmental policy that addresses drug abuse. As already mentioned, drug abuse is one of the major factors that cause juvenile crime. Therefore, coming up with strict policies on governing drug abuse among youths can help reduce crime and drug abuse.
Moreover, as Acoca et al. (2014, p.2) records, “While juvenile correction settings offer correctional and therapeutic treatment, there is currently no Federal law or standard definition that defines residential treatment programs.” As such, there is a need for a departmental policy that would oversee all offenders are not only engaged in correctional processes, but are also incorporated in therapeutic treatment. All offenders convicted for engaging in drug abuse should be taken to correctional facilities where they would be helped to pull out of their behavior. By assessing situations that may have triggered crime or drug abuse and tackling them, future criminal activities can be alleviated. Although some of these policies such as legalization of Marijuana are stated based on economic interest, there is a need to consider the effects that they have on the young generation. Therefore, serious legal measures should be taken on offenders who engage in any drug abuse, trafficking, or peddling.
These recommendations will help in tackling drug use and juvenile crime since the departmental policy will have a clear treatment program drug abuse that can be solved. On the other hand, formulating of policies that weigh economic gains and welfare of youths will help in reducing crime and drug abuse (Saloner et al., 2015). Based on the social disorganization theory, solving the factors that trigger crime and drug abuse is the ultimate way of seeing a decline in crime. The potential impact of these recommendations is to establish ways of addressing juvenile crime and drug abuse. However, law makers might go against the intent of shaping policies addressing drug abuse such as legalization of Marijuana (Saloner et al., 2015). In case of such a challenge, dialogue would be necessary to settle on a common measure. As such, it would be vital to engage law makers by tabling reports that show the negative impact of making policies for only economic reasons while disregarding their social impact.
References
Acoca, L., Stephens, J., & Van Vleet, A. (2014). Health coverage and care for youth in the juvenile justice system: The role of Medicaid and CHIP. The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Menlo Park (CA).
Cornish, D. B., & Clarke, R. V. (Eds.). (2014). The reasoning criminal: Rational choice perspectives on offending. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2014). What are the unique treatment needs of juveniles in the criminal justice system? Drugabuse.gov. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-drug-abuse-treatment-criminal-justice-populations/what-are-unique-treatment-needs-juveniles-in-crimin
Office of Justice Programs. (2017). CrimeSolutions.gov. Retrieved from https://www.crimesolutions.gov/TopicDetails.aspx?ID=48
Pardini, D. (2016). Empirically based strategies for preventing juvenile delinquency. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 25(2), 257-268.
Saloner, B., McGinty, E. E., & Barry, C. L. (2015). Policy strategies to reduce youth recreational marijuana use. Pediatrics, 135(6), 955-957.
Welsh, W. N., & Harris, P. W. (2016). Criminal Justice Policy and Planning: Planned Change. New York: Routledge.
