Table Of ContentJudging Addicts
Alternative Criminology Series
General Editor: Jeff Ferrell
Pissing on Demand: Workplace Drug Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New
Testing and the Rise of the Detox York’s Urban Underground
Industry Gregory J. Snyder
Ken Tunnell
Crimes of Dissent: Civil Disobedience,
Empire of Scrounge: Inside the Urban Criminal Justice, and the Politics of
Underground of Dumpster Diving, Conscience
Trash Picking, and Street Scavenging Jarret S. Lovell
Jeff Ferrell
The Culture of Punishment: Prison,
Prison, Inc.: A Convict Exposes Life Society, and Spectacle
inside a Private Prison Michelle Brown
by K.C. Carceral, edited by Thomas
Who You Claim: Performing Gang
J. Bernard
Identity in School and on the Streets
The Terrorist Identity: Explaining the Robert Garot
Terrorist Threat
5 Grams: Crack Cocaine, Rap Music,
Michael P. Arena and Bruce A. Arrigo
and the War on Drugs
Terrorism as Crime: From Oklahoma Dimitri A. Bogazianos
City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond
Judging Addicts: Drug Courts and
Mark S. Hamm
Coercion in the Justice System
Our Bodies, Our Crimes: The Policing Rebecca Tiger
of Women’s Reproduction in America
Jeanne Flavin
Judging Addicts
Drug Courts and Coercion in the Justice System
Rebecca Tiger
a
new york university press
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2013 by New York University
All rights reserved
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible
for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tiger, Rebecca.
Judging addicts : drug courts and coercion in the justice system / Rebecca Tiger.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-8406-8 (cl : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8147-8407-5 (pb : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8147-5941-7 (ebook)
ISBN 978-0-8147-8596-6 (ebook)
1. Drug courts—United States. 2. Duress (Law)—United States. 3. Drug abuse—
Treatment—Law and legislation—United States. 4. Drug addicts—Legal status, laws, etc.—
United States. I. Title.
KF3890.T54 2012
345.7302770269—dc23 2012024946
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials
to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Richard Schoenwald, who taught me how to ask questions
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Both Bad and Sick 15
Criminalizing Deviance: Reconciling the Punitive
and Rehabilitative 41
“The Right Thing to Do for the Right Reasons”:
The Institutional Context for the Emergence
of Drug Courts 58
“Enlightened Coercion”: Making Coercion Work 73
“Force Is the Best Medicine”: Addiction,
Recovery, and Coercion 88
“Now That We Know the Medicine Works”:
Expanding the Drug Court Model 115
Conclusion 133
Appendix 151
Notes 157
Bibliography 173
Index 183
About the Author 198
vii
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Acknowledgments
THIS BOOK WAS long in the making, and it reflects the help of many
people who pushed me to think critically about drugs, addiction, and soci-
ety—and people who made my life fun amid the work.
The late Robert Alford was instrumental in pushing me to articu-
late the “contradictory institutional logics” that I witnessed in my public
health work. When Bob died in 2003, the world lost an amazing sociolo-
gist and exemplary mentor. My thinking has been stamped with his unique
and critical approach to the social world. Barbara Katz Rothman was the
dream adviser; she agreed to oversee a project about which she knew little
but still managed to push me to focus on the knowledge that made coerced
treatment possible. Barbara has also become a good friend, and she still
lets me call on her regularly for advice. Bill Kornblum and Michael Jacob-
son both enthusiastically supported this research. Bill encouraged me to
be clear and Michael, as always, to articulate this project’s “so what?” John
Torpey pushed me to view this project historically. Without my regular
conversations with John about the history of punishment and discipline,
I don’t think I would have figured out the answer to Michael’s persistent
question. Carroll Seron enthusiastically discussed my project with me, and
provided much-needed encouragement. CUNY Graduate Center gener-
ously supported my research.
I was fortunate to receive a fellowship from the National Institute on
Drug Abuse that funded me. Many people involved with this fellowship
at the National Development and Research Institutes provided invaluable
feedback on my work. Greg Falkin and the late Bruce Johnson consistently
supported me during my five years in the program. Other fellows whole-
heartedly encouraged my critical approach to coerced treatment, and with-
out them, I don’t think I would have finished this project. Dina Perrone,
in particular, provided much-needed intellectual and emotional support.
She still does. Conversations with Rebecca DeGuzman confirmed that
“critical addiction studies” does matter; I am thankful for the compatibility
of our worldviews. Azure Thompson’s astute critiques of my writing cer-
tainly strengthened mine. I am always inspired by conversations with Ker-
win Kaye, whose stellar research with people coerced into drug treatment
pushed me to think more critically about many of my book’s conclusions.
ix
Description:The 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
