Abstract
Amidst growing recognition that people who use drugs are often vulnerable and in need of health-focused support, international conventions and national priorities on personal drug use are changing with emphasis shifting from criminal justice to health narratives. In Scotland, there has been a move toward health-led drug policymaking, and yet little is known about how diversion operates in this context. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted utilizing semi-structured interviews with professionals holding lead, strategic-level roles in Scottish diversion policy and practice (n = 15). Interview transcripts were thematically analyzed using a structured framework technique. Findings show that the term ‘diversion’ is used to refer to criminal justice-initiated drug treatment routes, both pre- and post-conviction. Unlike many international examples, Scottish diversions tend to embed health-focused support within criminal sanctions, rather than acting as alternatives. Participants expressed the view that the term diversion implied a shift from criminal justice sanctions to health-led support that did not occur in reality. We, therefore, argue that the term diversion may function to mute a ‘discursive struggle’ between criminal justice sanctions and health interventions for people who use drugs, obscuring a growing gap between aspirational governance principles and institutional and lived realities.
Highlights
IntroductionThe paper identifies several issues with how the concept of diversion operates in complex systems of governance, worthy of further exploration in other contexts
Introduction & BackgroundThis paper draws from the findings of a qualitative research study to examine how diversion is operating in Scotland
In Scotland, there has been a move toward health-led drug policymaking, and yet little is known about how diversion operates in this context
Summary
The paper identifies several issues with how the concept of diversion operates in complex systems of governance, worthy of further exploration in other contexts It aims to contribute an enhanced understanding of the theory and practice of diversion at a time of social and political change. A theoretical lens is helpful to deconstruct the relationship between macro-level influences and micro-level structural arrangements In his 2007 work, Alex Stevens introduces the concept of discursive struggles, suggesting that the interaction of political influences, population-level trends, and evidence on the nature of drug use, is complex, leading to shifts between criminal justice and health governance discourses across time. What Stevens (2007) points out, is that an oscillation between criminal justice and health at a strategic level can create unpredictable outcomes at a practice level, noting that institutional processes do not always shift at the same rate, or in the same direction,
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