Examining the Relationship between Veterans, Substance Use, and Crime: Research Proposal

Introduction

The number of the veterans in the criminal justice system is increasing at a fast pace. The high prevalence of crime among the veterans necessitates the enhancement of specific working trial environments. The Veterans Treatment Courts (VTC) is a unique avenue aimed at rehabilitating the veterans who conflict the law. The VTC has become more common than ever before since more veterans are now facing various cases in the court system. The efficacy of the VTC in handling veteran in conflict with the law is enhanced through the provision of a unique environment to foster a fast rehabilitative process. Substance abuse is increasing as veterans try to cope with their mental health issues and physical disabilities (Miller et al., 2013). Some veterans have committed various crimes, and a majority of these vices is blamed on substance abuse and PTSD. The number of veterans that continues to use different substances has increased. The justice system in response to a growing number of veterans with mental health and substance abuse problems being charged in courts developed the veteran's treatment court, which began in the year 2008. This specialized court was established to help veterans with severe mental health problems from being imprisoned, and instead, they offer them treatment for the issues with their mental health and drug abuse (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 2010).
The justice system is more focused on treating and counseling rather than punishing because of the underlying problems such as PTSD and substance abuse. These underlying issues usually derail the lives of veterans, which push them to commit felonies and misdemeanors, and if jailed the problems are never addressed. Approximately, 25 percent of veterans developed substance use disorder between 2004 and 2016 (Teeters et al., 2017). According to Ahlin and Douds (2016), there were over 700,000 veterans in the criminal justice system as of the year 2015. As a result, veteran treatment courts have been established to help veterans with severe mental health problems from being imprisoned, and instead, they offer them treatment for the problems with their mental health and drug abuse. The veterans treatment court (VTC) operates under a standard procedure. The environment provides unique services that are specific to the needs of the veterans. This study aims to evaluate factors that contribute to the increased number of veteran substance abuse and crime as well as understand whether the United States government has played a role in trying to deal with increased substance use among veterans.

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Purpose of the Study

The study will evaluate some of the factors that have contributed to such an increased number of veteran substance abuse and crime. Moreover, the research will try to establish the relationship between substance abuse and committing crime among veterans.

Research Questions

What are the factors that have contributed to increased number of veteran substance use?

Research Design

The current study will incorporate cognitive theory to explain the relationship between the variables. A qualitative approach will be adopted in this research. Surveys with the help of interviews and questionnaires will be conducted for data collection. All information regarding veterans involved in substance abuse and crime will be obtained from the court system via accessing the records of veteran cases. The sample for the research study will include all veterans that fought during the Vietnam War in 1968-1973 and the veterans that fought during Iraq and Afghanistan war between 2002 and 2010. About five 500 hundred participants will be selected for the study through random sampling. The participants will be engaged through personal interviews and questionnaires that will assist the researcher to collect relevant information regarding some of the factors that increase substance abuse and crime among veterans. The Suffolk County veteran's court will conduct interviews to obtain additional research and statistics. The researcher will prepare questionnaires, which will be distributed to the various respondents. The questions will consist of both open-ended and closed-ended questions. The respondents will be given two weeks from which they will be collected for analysis. Data collected through the questionnaires will be edited and coded for analysis. The data will be analyzed quantitatively by the use of descriptive statistics. The researcher will use SPSS software in presenting the data in form tables, charts, and percentages.

Measures or Variables

Some of the concepts that will be measured in the study include negative effects of substance use, despair and frustration, hopelessness, and increased rate of crime among veterans. The selected variables will be measured and quantified regarding the number of veterans that continue to suffer from substance abuse. The number of veterans that have been charged in courts of veterans because of substance abuse, the effects that substance use has had on affected veterans, and the number of veterans being treated in veteran courts.

Limitations

All research studies have limitations of their kinds depending on the problem. This study also has its flaws. The study will focus on veterans who have participated in the 1968-1973 Vietnam War and those who fought during Iraq and Afghanistan war between 2002 and 2010 and will leave out other veterans who have engaged in different wars. An extensive sample would have provided more data regarding the problem. The participants will undergo through interviews and questionnaires. The researcher might ask particular questions that may seem sensitive to the participants and might affect successful data collection. The selected sample represents individuals who have undergone through challenging life experiences; a likelihood exists that a majority of the participants may refuse to participate or even decide to hold back information that might be relevant to the study due to personal reasons unknown to the researcher.

References

Ahlin, E. M., & Douds, A. S. (2016). Military socialization: A motivating factor for seeking treatment in a veterans' treatment court. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 41(1), 83-96.

Miller, M. W., Reardon, A. F., Wolf, E. J., Prince, L. B., & Hein, C. L. (2013). Alcohol and drug abuse among US veterans: Comparing associations with intimate partner substance abuse and veteran psychopathology. Journal of traumatic stress, 26(1), 71-76.
Teeters, J. B., Lancaster, C. L., Brown, D. G., & Back, S. E. (2017). Substance use disorders in military veterans: prevalence and treatment challenges. Substance abuse and rehabilitation, 8, 69.
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (2010, August 17). PTSD: National Center for PTSD. Retrieved January 28, 2018, from https://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/community/keeping-PTSD-vets-out-JS.asp