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SOCI3085 War on drugs 1. Course Administration essays? 1 Schneiderman - Just Say No to the War on Drugs • the Reagan administration, and Nancy Reagan’s ‘just say no to drugs’ campaign, and the subsequent spawning of Wisotsky calls the ‘web of Black Market Pathologies’ • recent estimates that 1/32 Americans are currently serving a sentence of incarceration, probation or parole for a criminal conviction an estimated 60% of these are for drug or drug-related offences; in some large American cities, 1/4 Black males are currently serving 2 a criminal sentence • estimated that between 25% and 50% of all homicides, robberies and b&e are drug related • corruption of government officials; undermining of the independence of foreign governments; individual, social, health, economic costs • the need for more and more money $$$, more and more enforcement to fight the war on drugs, but estimated seizures less than 10% 3 • civil control and forfeiture - proceeds of crime, proposed provisions for seizure prior to conviction for crime; zero-tolerance policies, drug testing in the workplace, schools - what price civil rights? • on the other hand; alcohol and tobacco are legal; yet alcohol is perhaps the most destructive recreational drug of all - 50% of homicides & traffic fatalities; billions $$$ in health costs, both short-term and long-term; and then, there is smoking 4 • Berger and Luckmann; the social construction of reality, moral entrepreneurship, and the ‘war on drugs’ - is this the only way to define the problem, and to enact measures to deal with it? (or should be, as Daryl Gates proposed, execute casual users? Nancy Reagan - ‘if you are a casual drug user, you are an accomplice to murder’) • surveillance schemes - turning in your family, neighbors • the case of the Netherlands 5 Barsh & Marlor - Law as Power, Law as Process • an evaluation and critique of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) approach, including the peacemaking paradigm - do these approaches work any better than the adversarial approach? • law as power - coming out of the concept of positive law : “law is a body of legislated rules applied by coercive authority” - undesirable activity is prohibited - human behaviour as a whole is predictable 6 - the ‘power paradigm’ • versus tribal law or the ‘process paradigm’ where conflicts are resolved not through a power struggle, but rather through cooperation, compromise, and ‘give and take’, using a flexible sets of procedures, with few ‘rules’ • we know that many of the aspects of the power paradigm are not effective; punishment does not increase compliance, even certainty and celerity may not be effective in reducing crime, especially repeat offending • so: consider the alternative? ADR approaches 7 • ADR or the ‘negotiated justice’ approach • ranging on a continuum from cooperation to competition, incorporating a variety of along the continuum (negotiation, mediation, arbitration…..) • difficulty though in classifying and comprehending the nature and dynamics of conflict - especially where the ongoing conflict may actually benefit some of the parties - to resolve conflicts in the ADR manner, both parties must be honest 8 and motivated • the problem, frequently experienced, that negotiated justice systems are too often co-opted under the umbrella of state authority they are not independent systems • increasing the power of professionals, and the whole concept of ‘net widening’ - note here: is Native justice really Native justice, or conventional justice in disguise? • ‘peacemaking’ - this approach is fundamentally opposed to social control - emphasis on 9 redistribution, equality of power • that wrongdoers can be rehabilitated effectively and inexpensively without cruelty or punishment, and that the community can be restored, conflict resolved • but what does the research say? - difficult to measure outcomes, either quantitatively or qualitatively with any reliability/validity - social divisions within Native communities make it almost impossible to assess contemporary effectiveness - no evidence that it works better, or even as10well • Hudson & Galloway: An Introduction to Restorative Justice • three fundamental elements: 1. crime as a ‘social’ conflict between offenders, victims and community 2. aim of justice system to create, promote peace through reparation and reconciliation 3. active participation by victims, offenders, communities 11 • note that a restorative justice system would require the decentralization, deprofessionalization of the justice system - and a commitment of time and resources from the community • emphasis on ‘community responsibility’, and a broader view of the problem - a ‘peacemaking perspective’ 12 • Restorative Justice process: 1. Pre-mediation phase (the role of the mediator; intake and eligibility; preparation; voluntary nature; safety; direct contact/not) 2. Mediation phase (importance of ground rules; symbolic reparation: shame and forgiveness; providing a means for the offenders to return from shame) 3. Follow-up phase and outcomes (material, psychological and social aspects for 13 all parties) • the future of restorative justice? - what does the theory of the development of law say? - incorporation into ‘state operated’ justice system - ‘net widening’ - the issue of fairness and justice: are restorative justice programs fair to the victim, the offender, the community - are these partners really equal in the process? - public support/tolerance for the process 14 • so: what is the solution - what does our experience with Prohibition tell us? 15 16 17 18