A Criminological Fly in the Ointment? A Reply to Pratt and Turanovic’s Misinterpretation of Problem-solving Court Ideology toward Participant Generality of Deviance

Abstract

ABSTRACT Problem-solving courts are courts that oversee specialized dockets of participants who have comparable underlying causes which have prompted their entrance into the criminal justice system (e.g., substance abuse or mental health issues). Through their use of evidence-based practices, including treatment options and the use of risk-need-responsivity models, problem-solving courts aim to identify court participants who are at high risk for re-offending and in critical need of rehabilitative services. However, in their manuscript titled A Criminological Fly in the Ointment: Specialty Courts and the Generality of Deviance, Pratt and Turanovic make several incorrect claims regarding these types of courts. Specifically, the authors claim that problem-solving courts operate under the ideology that court participants are specialists when it comes to their offending, they aim to increase speed of processing cases through the criminal justice system, and that they do not utilize evidence-based practices. This reply aims to correct these claims and concludes with a brief discussion of current issues that these types of courts face moving forward.