60 Days In

I feel that we need to get rid of county jails and revamp them all toward minimum security Smart Recovery based therapy programs. Drug Court on the outside is similar and the  intentions are noble however I believe that therapy should be mandated for all inmates. This would be to help people with their criminal mind and maladaptive behavior as opposed to somebody who is just a drug addict. In other words what good is it going to do if people with similar mindsets are all sequestered together, this never worked and it never will so why don't they man up and start to make some changes? I believe that  Smart Recovery type Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as well as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy programs will decrease the recidivism rate once people get out of jail. Also if you start treating the inmates with respect and changing the way that they think and how they view the world then the propensity toward violence and repeat offenses will go down precipitously. In other words these people need jobs and therapy lined up once they get out, nothing can be worse then being caught up in the spiritual abyss. I don't know the breakdown between who is just a flat out criminal that isn't an inveterate drug addict (its around 75%drug addict and 25% pure criminal) but either way full time cognitive behavioral therapy is probably their only shot at not repeating their same behavior once they get out. Smart Recovery is very good however as far as using it to recover from alcoholism/drug addiction it doesn't introduce the spiritual aspect or introduce the power greater then oneself. I was caught up in the spiritual abyss and I had a lot of self knowledge from being in the program at one time for so many years however I still had no defense against the first drink/drug. It clearly states in the Big Book that self knowledge availed us nothing. If somebody cant conceptualize or grasp that there is a power somewhere in our infinite universe that is greater then themselves then that should tell you what their problem is right off the bat. One cant intellectualize the disease of addiction, that is why Smart Recovery is great however it should be used in direct conjunction with AA. There was a power greater then myself, that was alcohol in any form and that is why I must substitute this by filling up my spiritual cup on a daily basis. Changing the way that I think to deal with the emotional triggers with CBT is extremely pertinent but not sustainable for long term sobriety without introducing the spiritual aspect. This is for people that have the disease of addiction and yes alcoholism/ drug addiction is a disease. It doesn't mean that one cant fully recover from a hopeless state of mind and body. However if somebody is just using drugs/alcohol with a maladaptive behavior pattern to deal with their emotional and mental baggage and doesn't necessarily have the disease of addiction then I can see how Smart Recovery by itself would be a good fit. After watching 60 Days in it became clear to me that jails will never work so they should just get rid of them. Minimum Security Therapy Camps set up the same way that rehabs are for the most part but you need rock solid therapists, this is gods work and its very hard. The criminal mind is very manipulative, that is why therapists need to be a lot stronger then the client with boundaries and patience that would test the best of them. I haven't met that many flat out criminals who weren't drug addicts as well but the system needs to something else because what they are doing now definitely isn't working.