ABSTRACT
Along with the principles of therapeutic jurisprudence are calls for harsher penalties and tougher approaches to criminal behaviour. Solution-focused justice is not only consistent with crime reduction strategies, it actually enhances them. This chapter examines how these approaches are not ‘soft on crime’; rather, what is required of the participants is often far more onerous than a traditional penalty. Specialist courts and programmes address the causes of criminal behaviour to reduce reoffending and make communities safer. This chapter also looks at the economic sense in addressing the presenting issues in the community, rather than through incarceration.
