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

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.