The symbolic politics of the Dublin drug court: The complexities of policy transfer

Abstract

This article, based on qualitative interviews with experienced professionals and bureaucrats involved in the management of drug-using offenders in Ireland, looks at the Dublin pilot drug court as an example of policy transfer between countries. Those interviewed were generally unconvinced that the American drug court model was technically more effective than more traditional methods of diverting offenders from custodial sentencing into treatment, and tended to see political support for the initiative in terms of the symbolic value of this liberal, humanistic alternative to imprisonment. They also agreed, however, that the Dublin drug court was not true to the American model in that it did not embody the philosophy of therapeutic jurisprudence which is central to American drug court practice.