Abstract
Positive approaches to assessment and treatment of offending behaviors bring balance to a field that has been concerned primarily with risk factors and individual deficits. This chapter discusses two examples of approaches within criminal justice psychology that have their roots in positive psychology: the emerging focus on “protective factors” within risk assessment and the Good Lives Model (GLM), a strengths-based theory of rehabilitation. The chapter will describe both and explore how the two could work together to provide a positive psychological approach to both assessment and treatment of individuals within the criminal justice system. A shift toward the inclusion of positive factors has a number of potential benefits including adding incremental predictive validity to recidivism risk assessments, improving treatment engagement and risk management, and reducing stigmatization of persons who have offended.
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Dickson, S.R., Willis, G.M., Mather, D. (2018). Protective Factors and the Good Lives Model: Combining Positive Approaches to Assessment and Treatment. In: Jeglic, E., Calkins, C. (eds) New Frontiers in Offender Treatment . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01030-0_3
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