Two Annotations

1. Weiss, Elaine. "Paying Later." PEW Center on the States. (2011): 1-5. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.readynation.org/uploads/20110124_02311PAESCrimeBriefweb3.pdf>.

This journal article is an issue from the publication “Partnership for America’s Economic success” that features details on how not investing in children at an early age will lead to higher future costs and negative effects including child abuse and neglect, criminal activity and drug and alcohol abuse.  “When we fail to invest early, children…are less likely to be healthy and more likely to be criminals”. Up to $740,000 is spent by the individual and society on illegal drug abuse and up to $200,000 on child abuse. These monies are divided up into tangible and intangible societal costs. Tangible includes items like prison beds, and prison food that have an actual cost and can be calculated. Intangible costs are consequences of child abuse, drug abuse and crime like pain and suffering that have costs but are not easily calculated like tangible items. The effects of child abuse on teens and adults are not only a burden on the individual victim but on society as a whole. Higher healthcare bills and costs to combat crime are paid by the nation, us taxpayers who might have nothing to do with any child abuse, crime or substance abuse in our entire lives yet we are forced as a society to pay for those victims.

This articles explains that our economy is weakened by these American’s who have these problems because they are more likely to be less educated and hold low income jobs that do cannot pay the tax expenses so the other half of the nation has to pay more in order to cover for those low income households.

2. "Alternatives to Incarceration." Criminal Justice Brief: Office of National Drug Control Policy. (2011): 1-5. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/Fact_Sheets/alternatives_to_incarceration_policy_brief_8-12-11_0.pdf>.

The article “Alternatives to Incarceration” does give alternatives to the prison system in order to “break the cycle of drug abuse and crime” but also gives important background information on the link between drug abusers primarily and the cost taxpayers must pay for managing the growing population of drug abusers and criminals put into the prison system. “Nearly seven million American adults are under supervision of the state and Federal criminal justice system” which could arguably be due to early childhood abuse and leads to an economic problem for families who now must pay rising taxes.  This article also shows the outcomes and problems we have to deal with as a society as a result of so many criminals and drug abusers that could be an effect of child abuse. Because of the financial burden this quickly increasing problem in America is creating, we must now dedicate more time and money to alternative plans to incarceration and rehabilitation programs when the issue might be abuse and neglect early on in the offenders’ lives. Perhaps instead of creating all these different alternatives like drug courts and new probation/parole programs that are mentioned in this article, we should focus on how children grow up early on in society and educate our school systems and the general public about warning signs that could mean child abuse and neglect in the home. This alternative to the alternatives could possibly be more beneficial and get at the root of the problem instead of just letting the problem continue to grow and spending more and more money on adult criminals and substance abusers.