Is drug addiction a disease that can be treated, or is it a crime that should be punished? In her probing study, Illness or Deviance?, Jennifer Murphy investigates the various perspectives on addiction, and how society has myriad ways of handling it—incarcerating some drug users while putting others in treatment. Illness or Deviance? highlights the confusion and contradictions about labeling addiction. Murphy’s fieldwork in a drug court and an outpatient drug treatment facility yields fascinating insights, such as how courts and treatment centers both enforce the “disease” label of addiction, yet their management tactics overlap treatment with “therapeutic punishment.” The “addict" label is a result not just of using drugs, but also of being a part of the drug lifestyle, by selling drugs. In addition, Murphy observes that drug courts and treatment facilities benefit economically from their cooperation, creating a very powerful institutional arrangement. Murphy contextualizes her findings within theories of medical sociology as well as criminology to identify the policy implications of a medicalized view of addiction.

Examine an innovative strategy for fighting the war on drugs! Drug Courts in Operation: Current Research provides an in-depth look at an increasingly utilized approach to rehabilitating substance abusers. Drug courts offer their participants a chance to better themselves by providing support and structure to those that do not have it in their life, offering substance abusers a chance to participate in rehabilitation in lieu of incarceration. This insightful book examines the history of drug courts as a principal treatment alternative to incarceration, outlines the risk factors of children living with drug-addicted parents, and introduces a program to help strengthen families. The book delivers vital information on: introducing programs to help prevent narcotic use by children with drug-addicted parents the need for cultural- and gender-specific treatment plans, especially in the treatment of women and African-American males treatment dosage effects the importance of length of participation to outcomes focus groups designed to help drug court participants with their employment needs predictors of engagement in court-mandated treatment programs how legal coercion of high-risk patients via the threat of incarceration motivates participants to succeed

This book examines the ideas behind juvenile drug courts and explores their history and popularity. The collection assesses the evidence supporting juvenile drug courts and guides the next generation of evaluation research.