Description
Book SynopsisThe number of people incarcerated in the U.S. now exceeds 2.3 million, due in part to the increasing criminalization of drug use: over 25% of people incarcerated in jails and prisons are there for drug offenses. Judging Addicts examines this increased criminalization of drugs and the medicalization of addiction in the U.S. by focusing on drug courts, where defendants are sent to drug treatment instead of prison. Rebecca Tiger explores how advocates of these courts make their case for what they call enlightened coercion, detailing how they use medical theories of addiction to justify increased criminal justice oversight of defendants who, through this process, are defined as both sick and bad.
Tiger shows how these courts fuse punitive and therapeutic approaches to drug use in the name of a progressive and enlightened approach to addiction. She critiques the medicalization of drug users, showing how the disease designation can complement, rather than contradict, punitive approa
Trade Review
[T]his is an excellent book that will be of interest to sociologists who study punishment, health, deviance, and social control. It is well written and persuasive. Tiger effectively brought the sociology of knowledge to bear on a contemporary, policy-relevant question. This is no small accomplishment. While there are other critical books on drug courts available, Tigers approach is fresh and unique and therefore should be required reading by anyone studying the drug court movement. * Social Forces *
[Judging Addicts] is interesting and well written, and perhaps its greatest strength lies in the way in which its author sets her discussion of the drug court initiative in a historic context. * Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy *
Table of Contents
Both Bad and Sick2 Criminalizing Deviance: Reconciling the Punitive and Rehabilitative3 "The Right Thing to Do for the Right Reasons": The Institutional Context for the Emergence of Drug Courts 4 "Enlightened Coercion": Making Coercion Work5 "Force Is the Best Medicine": AddictionRecovery, and Coercion6 "Now That We Know the Medicine Works": Expanding the Drug Court Model
