Emotion and correctional practice: Theoretical foundations of an enactive practice framework

Abstract

Theoretical issues in the explanation and intervention of offending behavior have been well-documented. We suggest that these issues are particularly prevalent in the way that emotion is targeted through dominant approaches to correctional explanation and practice. These approaches typically target specific emotional states which are judged to be ‘offence-relevant’, assume that emotional states act as an impediment to planned behavior, and prescribe primarily response-focused emotion regulation strategies as intervention. We suggest that a practice framework situated in the enactive view of human functioning could be a useful alternative perspective. The enactive perspective suggests that emotions are evaluative embodied desires, which serve to motivate adaptive action at physiological, social, or cultural levels. Implications of an enactive framework are discussed.