Drugs In Prison

November 15, 2014. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was sitting in history class learning about World War II when the principal called me down to her office. I arrived at her office where she handed me the phone saying it was my mom. I could hear the sorrowful tone of my mom 's voice that she had some negative news. My mom started crying heavily, before telling me that my sister Sarah arrested by the police in possession of drugs and incarcerated. I couldn 't believe it and was in shock. I thought that by now she would have learned her lesson, but apparently I was wrong and was arrested for the third time. My sister was sentenced to seven years based on her charges and had mixed decisions to use drugs in prison because she knew

As a result of this study, the prison environment is not a supportive one for those individuals who wish to abstain from drug use. The prison environment and upon the individual, most respondents encouraged drug use. The research analyzed prison inmates of the general population at a prison in England. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire of 140 prisoners in which all would be self-reported (Swann & James, 2008). This questionnaire was designed as an attempt to ensure a high response rate and a minimum of interviewer bias. The findings would seem to indicate that self- report data about addictive behavior is inherently valid or invalid, but, in reality, it varies with the methodological sophistication of the data gatherer and the personal characteristics of the respondent. The questionnaire covered the following areas: drug use before and during incarceration, the method of drug administration, the response of the prison to drug use, and the potential effect of the prison environment upon the drug- using behavior. Research from this study showed that the most frequent drug used before incarceration and during incarceration was cannabis. The authors stated that "other drugs used during imprisonment included hooch, barbiturates, ecstasy, acid and crack, cocaine, amphetamines, and solvents and methadone" (Swann & James, 2008, p. 255). Based on the results the researchers noticed based on the results that for the majority of individuals, drug use will

The third negative point is that the research conducted shows that the prison environment can lead to maladaptive behaviors. Maladaptive behaviors lead to interfering with an individual 's activities of daily living and participating in particular settings. However, the design and operation of the prison environment entail a loss of privacy, high spatial and social density, isolation from more standard environments, and over control of individual behavior through institutional routines. Also, the confinement to an environment serves as a work, residential, and recreation setting all in one, and offers low levels of stimulation that often lead to boredom. Research shows that "jails and prisons have cultures that often lead to maladaptive behaviors in offenders with SMI that subsequently undermine treatment, both in and out of incarceration setting" (Swann & James, 2008, p. 262). Indicating from the authors, people cannot adapt successfully to such places, but a high number of individuals will have difficulties and most likely will display symptoms of maladaptation in these settings. If drug use is considered a maladaptive behavior impacting incarceration, it is entirely possible the prison environment indirectly encourages