Practitioner Rehabilitation following Professional Misconduct: A Common Practice Now in Need of a Theory?

Lois J. Surgenor (), Kate Diesfeld and Marta Rychert
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Lois J. Surgenor: Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, P.O. Box 4345, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
Kate Diesfeld: School of Public Health and Interpersonal Studies, 90 Akoranga Drive, Auckland 0627, New Zealand
Marta Rychert: SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, Massey University, 7/90 Symonds Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand

Laws, 2023, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Theories of rehabilitation have long been articulated in health and criminal justice contexts, driving rehabilitation practices in each area. In this article, several prominent theories are described to illustrate how their core assumptions aim to facilitate recovery and reduce relapse or reoffending. Professional disciplinary bodies are also often compelled by law or regulation to attend to practitioners’ rehabilitation after professional misconduct, with similar aims to restore the practitioner to safe practice. Yet, no rehabilitation theory has been articulated in this context despite professional rehabilitation being distinct from other settings. We propose that the current absence of a coherent theory is problematic, leaving professional disciplinary bodies to ‘borrow’ assumptions from elsewhere. Since rehabilitation penalties are frequently made by professional disciplinary bodies, we review several theories from health and justice contexts and highlight elements that may be useful in developing professional misconduct rehabilitation theory. This includes proposing methodological approaches for empirical research to progress this.

Keywords: professional; misconduct; rehabilitation; penalties; disciplinary; tribunals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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