DEPP collection on courts and sentencing
This collection of articles published in Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy on the topic of courts and sentencing covers issues of sentencing and court diversion, specialist drug and alcohol courts and court-enforced treatment (or abstinence) in relation to drug (or alcohol) use. This diverse collection of articles report on studies in various countries including Ireland, England & Wales, Nigeria, Belgium, Hungary and Canada. With their origins in the US and the first in UK being in Glasgow, Scotland, this body of work points to the continued growth and development of specialist substance use courts internationally. The collection also includes a systematic review and meta-analysis on effectiveness of diversion programmes for offenders spanning a range of jurisdictions internationally. Drawing on both quantitative analysis of sentencing outcomes and qualitative engagement with professionals and drug-misusing offenders, these articles examine the principles underpinning and efficacy of specialist substance use courts. Read together, the range of studies published in Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy on specialist substance use courts and sentencing underscore the inherent and ongoing tensions in defining the purposes and effective operationalisation of specialist substance use courts and how best to respond to those whose substance use sees them in contact with the criminal justice system.
Edited by
Carly Lightowlers