Literature Review On Relapse Prevention

In relation to drug abuse, relapse is resuming the use of a chemical substance or drug after a period of abstinence. The term can be said to be a landmark feature of a combination of substance abuse and substance independence. The propensity for dependency, repeated use, and tendencies that take the form of the substance being used, are some of the issues that drug users’ experience. Substances that enhance most severe tendencies in users and pose high pharmacological efficacy, are those that are cleared quickly from the body, in addition to those that bring out the highest tolerance. There can be increased substance tolerance with the increasing dependency in relation to drug in question,

The purpose of this study was to show that an effective drug treatment program in the criminal justice system is a necessity and to show that treatment will reduce recidivism thus reducing crime in society as a whole.

In assignment one, I stated that substance abuse disorders can cause barriers for ex-prisoners reentering back into the community because research shows that “individuals who are released from prison are more likely to encounter difficulties with substance abuse, as 73.6% individuals in the criminal justice system have drug and alcohol involved with their criminal behavior. “Researchers found that 80% of individuals incarcerated in state prison have serious substance abuse problems. Substance abuse has a significant role in recidivism upon release from prison and desire to use substances or craving of substance was the most common barrier to reentry” (Phillips and Spencer 127-128). In order to decrease substance abuse in prison reentry and create defensible solutions for ex-offenders, the criminal justice must create incarceration-based therapeutic programs for adults that will use an in-depth drug treatment program model for treating ex-offenders who are addicted to drugs, and change the ex-offender’s attitude, perception, and behavior linked to substance abuse. The program will aim to stop the ex-offender from using drugs and create will power inside the ex-offender not to back track into a life of drug

Once the individual is infatuated with one or more drugs it is viewed as an addiction, but programs such as the F.I.S.T program consider it to be a disease. This specific program takes those diseased who are willing to get clean and want to be reintegrated into society as a law abiding citizen. Many have argued that drug court programs do not focus enough on the participant’s life outside of the program after his or her graduation. A recent study researched the success of the after effects this program had against offenders who were eligible and entered the program versus those who were eligible and did not enter. With the F.I.S.T program, participants received therapeutic tools and rigorous education compared to those who did not. With this study, out of the 186 individuals who participated, only 10 of them were rearrested after the first 6 months. The counter research of the 994 who did not participate, had 108 individuals be re-arrested after the first 6 months. Once the one year or more re arrest comparison between the two were calculated, it was found that completers of this program are 16% less likely to recidivate to drug offenses than those who did not complete F.I.S.T. The reason behind these finding were the teachings the participants were exposed to during the process. With educational programs, they discovered what they were

“Nearly ninety percent of substance abusers”, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health”, do not believe that they need treatment (Gogek). If they are offered treatment instead of jail, “they’ll relapse back to drugs and alcohol, commit other crimes, and end up back in prison” (Gogek). Jail, as a threat, is needed in order to keep “addicted criminals” in “long-term recovery”(Gogek). Involuntary treatment, has been shown to be more successful those who chose to get treatment voluntarily. Furthermore, drug offenders that are told that failure of their recovery could mean a return back to prison “are twice as likely to complete

“Traditional… treatment approaches often conceptualize relapse as an end-state, a negative outcome equivalent to treatment failure. Thus, this perspective considers only a dichotomous treatment outcome—that is, a person is either abstinent or relapsed.” (Larimer, 1999). For a substance dependent individual like Rosa, equating abstinence to failure is counter-productive and ineffective. Considering her history of pain management, we can expect that Rosa may feel emotional and physical discomfort without her opiate and alcohol combination. A setback in treatment would be negative, but doesn’t warrant “giving up” on established treatment goals. Relapse may be anticipated with the relapse prevention model, but it is considered to be a part of “the

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the relapse rate is 40-60%. Not only do we need better alternatives to recovery for alcohol and drug addiction, but we must lower the relapse rate. In order to successfully lower the relapse rate we must inform people on the effect gateway drugs can have on future addictions, educating about relapse and addiction and focusing on key factors to making a treatment a successful one. My research on lowering relapse rates taught me that the problem is not getting sober, its staying sober.

A major issue when treating alcoholism is the likelihood of relapse. A lack of social support may contribute to an increased likelihood of relapse, while maintaining positive social support can decrease this risk. One study discussed the possibility of social interaction influencing relapse behavior in the prairie vole. This study focused on the alcohol deprivation effect (ADE), where animals that had been previously exposed to ethanol show increased consumption after a period of abstinence, modeling relapse behavior commonly seen in addiction. The aim of the study was first to observe whether prairie voles, like mice and rats in previous experiments, could display an ADE and second, to determine whether this effect could be influenced by social

The criminal justice system has four goals they strive for. These goals are discourage, punishment, damage, and rehabilitation. Of these four, discourage, punishment, and damage mean the same thing. When a crime is committed, punishment and rehabilitation is needed to correct a problem (Punishment vs. Rehabilitation: A Proposal for Revising Sentencing Practices, 1991). When the delinquent has departed from prison and enters the real life, they tend to get other issues other than the usual drug and alcohol use if they haven’t already been addicted.

In the United States and around the world there is an epidemic involving drug addiction. Also, we are facing a growing problem revolving around prison overcrowding, due to inmates that have committed drug related crimes, or offences while under the influence. There’s a solution that would help society and lessen overcrowding, and that’s to help those that are committing crimes due to an addiction disorder. In this paper, I will explore option’s that will help the growing population, reduce recidivism, provide treatment for offenders, and assist with re-entry.

Nonviolent drug abusers have no significantly beneficial rehabilitation programs to fix their addiction and must be placed or forced into programs that are created to repair the broken lives. Simply incarcerating drug abusers does not fix their problems. In most cases it makes their addiction worse. Prisons need to develop better and more extensive rehab programs and although rehab programs are beneficial “Some inmates will refuse to comply with rehab program. Along with not complying they are just

The use of drug and substance abuse interventions have resulted in a decrease of relapses throughout the United States due to the amount of support each participant receives, the unique treatments each person gets, and those who receive treatment are automatically better off than those who do not receive treatment.

The need for prison-based addiction treatment is intense. In the most recent data from the Department of Justice in 2002, it was found that 68 percent of offenders reported symptoms of addiction in the year before their admission to jail that met addiction criteria. 16 percent of convicted offenders report they have committed their offense in order to get money for drugs. 63 percent of offenders who met addiction criteria had participated in some form of treatment in the past (James & Karberg, 2005).

Phillips article emphasized the discouraging information that substance abuse and recidivism go hand and hand. Phillips draws the viewer’s attention to some statics that was published in 2000 stating a prisoner will face issues with substance abuse following release because more than 73% of people with a criminal past is related to drug abuse and incarceration. Phillips aids the audience to the research that was conducted inside an East Coast prison where the participants were the convicted felons themselves. They were all men of various ages, diverse, and different education levels. The interview was to gather information on their substance abuse past to determine if it would

Addiction is a “chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences.” The initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most individuals, but frequent drug use can lead to brain alterations that challenge an addicted person’s self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs. These brain alterations can be persistent, which is why drug addiction is considered a "relapsing" disease. People in recovery from drug use disorders are at increased threat for returning to drug use even after years of not taking the drug. It's common for an individual to relapse, but relapse doesn't mean that treatment doesn’t work. As with other chronic health conditions, treatment should be constant and should be adjusted based on how the patient answers. Treatment plans need to be reviewed often and modified to fit the patient’s changing desires.