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Prisons and the War on Drugs

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Drug abuse has been defined as a significant social problem. This discussion provides an opportunity to examine this problem as well as the consequences of our reliance on punishment as a solution to drug abuse:

University of Notre Dame. (1999). War on Drugs Dramatically Increases Prison Population [Video]. In Life Behind Bars. Retrieved from the Films on Demand database. http://digital.films.com/OnDemandEmbed.aspx?Token=10167&aid=18596&loid=30210&Plt=FOD&w=320&h=240

After viewing the required video for this discussion, please answer each of the following questions:

a. Discuss the differences between a cultures folkways, mores, and taboos.

b. Why are some deemed infractions of normative expectations termed criminal and others social?

c. How does this definitional process lead us to incarcerate fellow citizens?

d. What sociological factors contribute to the criminalization of individuals in society? Explain your answer.

e. Does the seriousness of drug abuse justify the social consequences of a reliance on incarceration?

Please help me with this.

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a. Folkways are the normative methodologies by which individuals within a given society interact, while mores are the more important traditional norms of a particular cultural group. Taboos, on the other hand, are socially unacceptable behaviors within a given society, that are usually frowned upon by a given society due to custom beliefs, religious beliefs, etc.

b. Some deemed infractions of normative expectations are termed criminal due to the fact that these infractions are more severe infractions of normative ...

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