Alternative to Incarceration: Rehabilitation

Essential Questions:

• Should all inmates serving time for drug-related crimes receive treatment for drug addictions?
• What are the benefits and disadvantages (to individuals and to society) of rehabilitating criminals?
• Which crimes can be defined as "drug crimes?"

Drug offenders make up roughly 49% of inmates who are incarcerated in the United States. This means that there are millions of people who are currently serving time for issues related to drug possession, the sale of drugs, and violent drug-driven incidents. As prison overcrowding is a huge issue in our country, it is vital that we find a way to reduce the number of people who serve time in jail.

There is substantial evidence that treatment for drug and alcohol addictions reduces recidivism rates drastically. Research conducted by the U.S. Justice Department showed that 53% of drug users who were on probation but received no treatment recidivated within four years of being released from prison. Probationers who completed treatment had a recidivism rate of 37% within four years of their release from prison. Many argue that other factors such as gender, age, income, and education level are much more influential to an inmate's life after release. Regardless, research strongly suggests that those who are successful in completing long-term treatment after prison are much less likely to become incarcerated again.

 

Not only are fewer prison sentences generally less traumatizing for prisoners, they are much more cost effective for the public. It is estimated that if non-violent drug offenders were kept out of prison, Americans would pay only 1/6 of the money (in taxes) that currently goes toward keeping prisoners who committed drug crimes in jail.

The problem with determining who "deserves" time in jail comes from difficulty in determining how much of a crime was drug-related. For example, many prisoners convicted of violent crimes confess that they felt driven to engage in fights and violent behavior because they desired money for drugs. It is difficult to determine where a line can be drawn between crime and sickness from substance dependency. 

Blog post response:

What are the societal benefits to treating criminals instead of incarcerating them? What are the drawbacks?

Related readings:

A New York Times argument for treatment and against incarceration:

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/12/18/prison-could-be-productive/punishment-fails-rehabilitation-works

"Rehabilitate or Punish" 

http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug03/rehab.aspx

A long read with research by the Justice Policy Institute:

http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/04-01_rep_mdtreatmentorincarceration_ac-dp.pdf

Nepal Celebrates a Year of Zero Poaching

 

With the end of 2014, Nepal was happy to announce that no animals were poached within the country's boarders the whole year. Nepal has made efforts to cut down on poaching since the 1960's, when the first rhinoceros protection sites were set up and the country joined the WWF.


The one-horned rhino population in Nepal grew to 524 in 2011 from 425 in 2008, and the country's tiger population in Nepal increased from 121 to 198 from 2009 to 2013. This is promising as both species are threatened globally.

An interesting video about drone technology

and anti-poaching efforts

Why Poaching Is A Problem

The greatest threat to biodiversity is unregulated hunting. This is evident in Africa, where the poaching of rhinos has had a huge impact on the balance of plant and animal species in grasslands. In Nepal, the poaching of elephants and rhinos posed a threat to tigers and other carnivores that look to larger mammals for food.

 A poached elephant found missing its tusks

in Zimbawe

Over 100,000 elephants have been killed over the past three years in Africa because of the demand for ivory. South Africa reported 1,116 poached rhinos in 2014. In 2013, 39 illegal tiger skins were seized in India. Poachers use methods such as steel traps, poison, and electrocution to kill animals, which are very painful. Often times, poachers will only cut off the horns of animals, leaving them to either heal in pain or bleed out and die.

A rhino stripped of its horn

Why People Turn to Poaching

It's hard for me to imagine how anybody can turn to harming animals. But it is important to acknowledge that citizens of poor countries often feel forced into the practice of poaching. Ivory from elephant tusks are worth more than gold, and tiger skins are sold at extremely high prices. Animal coats and horns are smuggled across boarders every day because there is a global demand for animal products that are considered to be luxurious. Thousands of people worldwide have felt forced into poaching as the only way to support their families.

Nepal's Anti-Poaching Efforts

Nepal serves as a global model to end poaching because of the cooperation between national and international organizations, the Nepali police and army forces, and national parks. Jail sentences for poaching are very severe, and the country has a zero-tolerance policy for wildlife-related crimes. Wildlife organizations have addressed the fact that poaching is often done by people who were forced into poverty. To reduce the pressure to poach, organizations such as Chitwan National Park have adapted policies to devote large percentages of their income to community development. In addition to to all of these measures, there has been a huge effort to educate Nepal's citizens about its unique natural landscape. Programs funded by national parks put a lot of focus on having pride in the animals of the country.


Outlook for Poaching Worldwide

I feel like I should acknowledge the fact that Nepal is an extraordinary success story in the global poaching pandemic, but other countries have not seen such positive outcomes. Illegal animal slaughtering is still a huge problem across African and Asian countries. I can only hope that other countries are able to meet such success in addressing the needs of wildlife as well as the needs of people.

Sources

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/30/world/africa/rhino-poaching-kruger-national-park/index.html

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/biodiversity/biodiversity.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140312-nepal-chitwan-national-park-wildlife-poaching-world/

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/2305463/nepals_year_of_zero_poaching.html 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Tiger-poaching-in-India-highest-in-seven-years/articleshow/27554070.cms

http://wwf.panda.org/?207619/Elephant-crisis-what-poaching-does-to-animals-environments-and-people

https://www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/winter-2014/articles/small-country-big-impact