Limits to Treatment: Ethical and Charter Considerations (From Insights Into Violence in Contemporary Canadian Society, P 329-333, 1987, James M MacLatchie, ed. -- See NCJ-122437)

• NCJ Number: 122479
• Author(s): P Gendreau
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 5 pages
• Sale Source: John Howard Soc of Canada
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: Canada
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Policies in both the United States and Canada give the State the right to administer justice (impose sanctions deemed commensurate with crime seriousness) and the offender the right to refuse treatment; the consequences of such policies have been problematic.

Abstract

Recognition of the ineffectiveness and abuses of much offender and patient treatment has led to a commitment in the United States and Canada to a justice model that mandates legal sanctions based on crime seriousness. While undergoing such sanctions, treatment options may be offered but not required under the principle of the right to refuse treatment. In both countries, the justice model has led to an increase in incarceration for both adults and juveniles. The percentage of mentally ill persons in prisons has also increased, while treatment programs and options have decreased. It is questionable whether the increased use of incarceration deters crime, or if the use of incarceration without associated treatment appears likely to have a criminogenic effect. There is an imbalance between the administration of sanctions and treatment for offenders that promises to make matters worse for both the offender and society.