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Legally Mandated Treatment Programs

There is much debate about the effectiveness and appropriateness of mandatory treatment programs for criminal offenders. Generally, treatment is considered an option or as part of an offender's sentence when the crime seems to involve drugs, alcohol, mental illness or predatory sexual activity. However, whether such treatment is effective often depends on the extent to which offenders comply with the treatment programs. Proving the effectiveness of such programs, therefore, can often be problematic and can lead some observers to argue that the programs are ineffective and inappropriate responses to crime. Nonetheless, there is evidence that, when participation is mandated and enforced, such programs can be an effective means of preventing recidivism and re-offending. Thus, this paper argues that treatment programs for drug, alcohol and sexual crimes should be mandatory, if only as a means of discovering whether such programs are truly effective. If they are effective, then society will be served best because the system will have prevented future crime. On the other hand, if such programs are ultimately determined to be ineffective in preventing future crime, then there can be no argument that these programs should be mandatory for any category of crime.

Studies into the effectiveness of drug treatment programs for criminal offenders find that almost 40 to 90 percent of such offenders do not complete the program (Young & Belenko, 2002, p. 297). For this reason, many observers argue that such drug treatment alternatives are "soft" or an "ineffective, revolving door response to drug-involved offenders (Young & Belenko, 2002, p. 297). However, other studies show that people who remain in these treatment programs long enough demonstrate reduced criminal recidivism and other favorable effects (Young & Belenko, 2002, p. 297). Studies have also found that criminal offenders are often motivated to remain in these programs only when they are ...

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Legally Mandated Treatment Programs. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 05:01, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1706454.html