A Comparison Between Juvenile Drug Courts And Recidivism

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1. Title of Research Topic - Juvenile substance abuse: A comparison of effectiveness and recidivism rates among offenders within drug-court programs and those sentenced to traditional sentencing.

2. Introduction of Topic – The late 20th century witnessed an alarming increase in substance abuse in the United States, and today, it still continues to rage on, coupled with a continuously expanding inmate population. Therefore, in order to battle this disastrous obstacle, the first ever drug court was established in Miami-Dade County, Florida in 1989. According to the National Institute of Justice, currently there are 1,558 drug courts within the United States, and 409 which are juvenile drug courts. The purpose of drug courts are to serve as an alternative to incarceration for drug offenders, based on a treatment-oriented approach. The research question that I have developed will address the effectiveness of drug courts on juvenile offenders compared to those adjudicated to traditional sentencing (i.e. Probation, Incarceration). Although many research has been conducted on the effectiveness of adult drug courts, less is known about effectiveness on …show more content…

This study mainly focused on the effectiveness of the drug court in Jefferson Country of Texas, which includes the cities of Beaumont, Port Arthur, Nederland, Port Neches, and Groves. Gummelt & Sullivan (2016), explains that the Jefferson juvenile drug court program utilizes a team approach, consisting of a judge, drug court coordinator, supervision officer, defense attorney, case manager, counselor and mentors. Furthermore, the authors claim that most juveniles completes the program within 12 months, and program is it tailored to educate as well as promote a healthy lifestyle of the

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