The quasi-coercive treatment of young drug offenders in South Africa: The role of the family

Tara Harris and Rika Swanzen

Journal of Community Positive Practices, 2014, issue 2, 11-27

Abstract: The adoption of restorative justice principles in the treatment of youth offenders offers the opportunity and challenge of providing evidence-based guidelines for treatment programmes (as opposed to punitive measures). This paper aims to add to the body of growing literature to support treatment of youth offenders within the community. A link is made between drug abuse and criminal behaviour in young people and then placed within a legal context that enables the choice of quasi-coercive treatment. To highlight what this means for the family who will take responsibility for alternative sentencing of young offenders, the person-in-environment framework is used to show the dynamic working of environment systems and social roles, as well as attachment theory to show the effect of relationship quality of the parent-child dyad. The paper ends with a summary of aspects to consider when a focus on the family is taken when alternative sentencing is considered.

Keywords: Quasi-coercive treatment; youth offenders; drug abuse; criminal justice; person-inenvironment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/235/209 First version, 2014 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cta:jcppxx:2142

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