If you could help thousands, would you?

Abstract

Every year, thousands are incarcerated for non-violent drug crimes. Rehabilitation can break the cycle of recidivism. This paper examines the benefits of rehabilitation as compared to traditional jail sentences for non-violent drug offenders. Current research on the injustice faced by non-violent drug offenders in the criminal justice system is limited. A literature review comprising research articles, case studies, meta-analyses, and reports shows that rehabilitation centres help integrate non-violent drug offenders back into society, and rehabilitative programs are both cheaper and more effective than prisons. The author considers counter-arguments (e.g., a prison sentence is just), but ultimately finds that prison systems are significantly less apt to reduce drug crime recidivism than rehabilitation centres, and may even increase the likelihood that a non-violent felon would reoffend. Experimental research on recidivism rates, rehabilitation centres and prisons is called for.