Save My Son: A Mother and a Sheriff Unite to Reclaim the Lives of Addicted Offenders - Softcover

Wills, Maralys; Carona, Michael

9781568385549: Save My Son: A Mother and a Sheriff Unite to Reclaim the Lives of Addicted Offenders

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1568385544 ISBN 13: 9781568385549

Publisher: Hazelden, 2000

Authors Maralys Wills and Mike Carona have created a thoroughly researched, up-to-date expose of how most crimes in this country are either the direct or indirect result of the criminal's drug or alcohol abuse. They further reveal how the current correctional trend toward longer sentences, fewer prison programs, and very limited access to drug/alcohol treatment guarantees continuation of the massive recidivism rates we currently experience. Save My Son is not, however, merely a diagnostic book; it is also prescriptive, outlining Sheriff Carona's vision of locked-down mandatory drug and alcohol treatment and job traning facilities for nonviolent drug offenders designed to reduce recidivism and reverse the national trends of imprisoning massive numbers of addicts

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About the Author:

Maralys Wills's eight published books span several genres and publishers. Her first book, Manbirds: Hang Gliders & Hang Gliding, (Prentice-Hall, 1981) was non-fiction, listed by Library Journal as one of the '100 best' in Science and Technology for that year. Four romances followed, published by both Harlequin and Silhouette. In 1988, she published Fun Games for Great Parties (Price/Stern/Sloan) which remained in print for six years.Maralys's personal experience story, a mainstream titled Higher Than Eagles, became the lead title for Longstreet Press in early 1992, and was optioned by filmmakers Finnegan-Pinchuk (Northern Exposure), then by Lew Eisaguerre (twice), then in 1996 by Disney Studios.Her techno-thriller, Scatterpath, about a conspiracy to sabotage a line of aircraft, was the lead title for Presidio Press in May 1993. The New York Times called it 'exciting, down-to-the-wire stuff, well told by Ms. Wills, a competent writer who has apparently done her homework. Her cockpit sequences all but put the reader at the controls.' Scatterpath has been optioned by Landsburg Productions and Fox Television Studios.Save My Son: A Mother and a Sheriff Tackle Addiction is co-authored by Sheriff Mike Carona. Maralys attended Stanford and UCLA, earning both a B.A. in psychology and a teaching credential. The mother of 5 boys and a girl, she helped her sons run a hang gliding manufacturing business – until she went home to write books.In addition to frequent speaking engagements, Maralys has given numerous writing seminars – at UCLA, UC Riverside, Cerritos College, and writers' conferences across the country. For the past 15 years, she's taught novel-writing at both Orange Coast College and North Orange County College District. She is a past president of the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America.Mike Carona, Orange County California's sheriff, has worked for 22 years in the County Marshall's department. He has an associate of science degree in administration of justice, a bachelor of arts degree in management, a master is arts degree in management, and a master of science degree in management. He lives in Orange, California.

From Publishers Weekly:

Wills begins this treatise on drug treatment in America by describing her astonishment that an upper-middle-class white family like hers could produce a drug-addicted child. While many readers may not share her na?vet?, she offers an instructive picture of her son Kirk's downward spiral through the criminal justice system, which made him increasingly ill-equipped to function normally. As his bewildered family tried every form of "tough love" (throwing Kirk out of their home penniless) and blind support (buying him a house, giving him money), they waited in vain for Kirk to "hit bottom" and choose recovery for himself. For his part, coauthor Carona lost his own mother to alcoholism; later on, as sheriff of Orange County, Calif., he began looking for more successful ways to treat drug-addicted prisoners. Bringing together the distinctive viewpoints of a law enforcement officer and a heartbroken mother, Carona and Wills present a dismal set of facts and figures to prove that warehousing nonviolent drug offenders in overcrowded prisons is far more prevalent than any kind of addiction treatment. Deviating from the widely accepted notion that an addict must seek help voluntarily, the authors highlight the success of "coercive" rehab facilities within prisons (sometimes offered as alternatives to prison sentences). With impressive statistics on the monetary savings of treatment over incarceration, Wills and Carona call for revamping a prison system that seems to hurt more than it helps. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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