Problem-Solving Courts in the United States and Around the World: History, Evaluation, and Recommendations

Abstract

Problem-solving courts deal with specific social issues thought to be underlying causes of crime. Around the world, there are courts for offenders experiencing drug use, mental health issues, prostitution, and gambling addiction. Problem-solving courts also exist for special groups of people, such as veterans, juveniles, and families experiencing domestic violence. Problem-solving courts differ in many ways, including the issues they address, the offenders they help, and their underlying principles. The goals of this chapter are (1) to provide an overview of problem-solving courts; (2) to assess the rigor of evaluations of problem-solving courts; (3) to determine which components of courts are most common and might be associated with success; (4) to make recommendations about future evaluations. The first section provides a history of problem-solving courts. The next two sections discuss the various justice (e.g., therapeutic jurisprudence, procedural justice) and psychological (e.g., operant conditioning, social support) components utilized within these courts. A synthesis of the findings from evaluations of problem-solving courts reveals that the most successful court types were the domestic violence and community courts, while the least successful were the juvenile courts. Evaluators of adult drug courts used the most rigorous research designs to evaluate the courts, while evaluators of veterans courts used few rigorous designs. The most commonly used components were Procedural Justice and Therapeutic Jurisprudence, while the least used was Community Sentiment. The most successful components were Community Sentiment and Adversarial Process. The least successful was Social Support. The chapter concludes with recommendations to help future researchers evaluate problem-solving courts more rigorously.