Roundtable: Recovery, Desistance and Criminal Justice Interventions

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

Recently there has been a growing interest in describing and understanding desistance in specific types of offenders, like drug-dependent offenders.
A substantial amount of drug-dependent users experience difficulties on drug-related life domains and often come into contact with the criminal justice system. Many have difficulties avoiding this “revolving door” and get caught in a cycle of recidivism and relapse. In order to promote and sustain desistance, we should focus on the drug problem and drug-related life domains, instead of a sole focus on the crime problem. Several authors, studying criminal justice interventions, have promoted a shift from targeting risk factors, associated with recidivism, to ‘strengths based’ approaches, promoting the ‘good lives’. Improvements in drug-related (quality of) life domains play an important role in recovery and should be considered as key when evaluating outcomes of criminal justice interventions. In this roundtable session we will 1) discuss the interplay between recovery and desistance 2) get insight in the elements that promote recovery and desistance 3) highlight the link between recovery, desistance and the criminal justice system and 4) explore strengths-based approaches, empowering the drug dependent offender to recover from drug use and desist from crime.

Sub Unit

• Area XIII: Roundtable Sessions

Chair

• Charlotte Colman, Ghent University

Discussants

• Caroline Cooper, American University

• Tatiana Kazadi, Ghent University, IRCP