Defense Lawyers’ Role in Helping Youth Offenders through Positive Criminology
In a book chapter from the recent book Positive Criminology (Routledge, 2015), author Dana Segev explores how defense lawyers can contribute to rehabilitation and smooth reentry for their clients by incorporating techniques from positive criminology and therapeutic justice into their client interactions. The article focuses on youth in the juvenile justice system. Positive criminology is “a field of criminology that focuses on positive experiences that individual encounter that can influence these individuals and distance them from self-centeredness, crime, and deviance.”
The author suggests that defense lawyers can cultivate a positive relationship, allow for meaningful participation, and foster the client’s voice through techniques such as:
- Active listening
- Criticizing the act, but not the actor
- Showing warmth, empathy, and openness
- Praising positive steps forward, such as successfully completing a rehabilitation program
- Helping the client prepare for the future post-incarceration
- Allowing youth defendants to express their thoughts and feelings in court
- Providing questionnaires to encourage youth to reflect on sentencing issues
By incorporating techniques such as these into their client interactions, defense lawyers can expand their traditional roles as legal actors and act as social workers, education advocates, substance abuse counselors, or family therapists.
See Dana Segev, Positive Criminology and Therapeutic Jurisprudence: Relevant Techniques for Defense Lawyers, in Positive Criminology (Natti Ronel & Dana Segev, eds., 2015) [Full text on SSRN]
