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How incarceration perpetuates the cycle of addiction in juveniles
Joslyn Herrera only just started middle school when she began abusing painkillers and by the time she graduated high school she was fully addicted to heroin.
In an interview with NPR, Herrera told of being 13 and trying to escape the pressures of growing up with parents also caught in addiction. When she was caught shoplifting, she should’ve been given rehabilitation and empathy. She needed support. Instead, she was given heavy withdrawals and trauma. She was told to cover up her addiction, rather than fight it.
Like many others, she fell into a cycle where young people with minor offenses get incarcerated, use harder drugs to cope with the trauma created by the incarceration, and get incarcerated again to repeat the cycle. With each repetition, the cycle’s consequences are exacerbated, and addictions get more dire.
Just like Herrera, many teens seek out substances as a way to cope with underlying issues such as poverty, untreated mental health disorders and abuse they’ve faced throughout their life. A study from the CDC reveals that 41% of overdose related death rates among adolescents between the ages of 10-19 were from adolescents with recorded mental health conditions. Despite only 20% of adults in the U.S. having mental health issues, almost half of overdose related deaths were adolescents with mental health conditions.
Children as young as 10 with dreams, teens with their whole future ahead of them, and young adults who were just given their first chance at freedom all had their lives cut short by a system that taught them to repress their mental needs, and later hide their addictions.
It’s not that they don’t want help; it’s that they’re actively discouraged from seeking it out by the system their whole lives. When children are taught that their problems make them “bad,” they lose hope of ever becoming “good.” It’s not the individual at fault, but their circumstances.
A study from the National Institute of Health reveals that five years after leaving detention centers, 43% of children and young adults develop a form of Substance Use Disorder (SUD). Many of these are traumatized children / adolescents who fell into the cycle of addiction at a young age (due to pre-existing mental health issues) and may never recover out of fear of incarceration.
The U.S. justice system isn’t there to help these people recover, something that can only happen through compassion and care. Instead, the U.S, justice system focuses on punishment, which causes people to evade law enforcement rather than recover.
The severity of juvenile prison systems is a byproduct of abusive conditions, general negligence and an overall lack of rehabilitation. According to FhereHab, a teaching institution that focuses on rehabilitation, finds that due to the current system, the U.S. is No. 1 in death from drug use disorders, at 18.75 deaths per 100 thousand, versus the world average of only about 2 deaths per 100 thousand.
Countries that incorporate themes of restoration and rehabilitation, such as Germany, rank on the lower end of the scale because they focus more on repairing the underlying causes of addiction, rather than fear mongering individuals who are struggling.
The main issue with the U.S. incarceration system is that it focuses too much on punishing individuals rather than rehabilitating, forcing isolation while in the system and only adding to the past trauma of these people. This then encourages crime and the cycle of addiction.
Nationally, we are long overdue for a prison reform. Due to the vicious cycle, over 1.8 million people across the United States are incarcerated. Voting to shift the prison system to rehabilitating criminals can minimize re-incarnation rates and eliminate the trauma created by the system.
Locally, taking small steps toward reducing the stigma around opioid abuse and mental health can make a big difference to those who are silently suffering.
The National Helpline — 1-800-662-4357
This article was written as part of a program to educate youth and others about Alameda County’s opioid crisis, prevention and treatment options. The program is funded by the Alameda County Behavioral Health Department and the grant is administered by Three Valleys Community Foundation.
