A comparative review of best practice guidelines for the diversion of drug related offenders

In recent decades rates of imprisonment have increased throughout the industrialised world as has the proportion of people whose imprisonment is linked to their use of illicit drugs. While the relationship between drug use and crime remains unclear, it has been argued that punitive responses alone are unsuccessful in reducing illegal drug use and associated crime. Disillusionment with traditional criminal justice approaches to drug-using offenders has renewed interest in programmes diverting drug related offenders from the criminal justice system. In the 1990s a number of diversion best practice guidelines became available, largely preceding the emerging evaluation literature. This represents a challenge for policy makers committed to evidence-based standards of best practice. This paper is a comparative analysis of best practice guidelines for various diversionary programmes delivered in different parts of the world. Consistent themes running through the guidelines and the relationship between these themes and the available evaluation literature were identified. The results of this qualitative meta-analysis suggest that sufficient evidence exists to support the principles outlined in these guidelines.