Diversion

Diverting offenders from prosecution is the referral of an accused to social work or other agencies where it is believed that formal criminal justice proceedings are not necessary (i.e. where there is no overriding public interest for a prosecution). The accused is then dealt with through 'diversion schemes' which aim to address underlying causes of offending. Diversion is designed to prevent individuals being prematurely 'up-tariffed' into a custodial sentence, and is primarily targeted towards young people, female offenders and those with substance misuse issue.

Little research has been carried out in Scotland on this topic, although the Scottish Government website has a 'web only' publication of the Evaluation of the 100% Funding Pilot Programmes in the late 1990's. Much of the literature relevant to diversion tends to fall under the heading of restorative justice, a topic that is dealt with elsewhere on the site. However, there are a few articles that may be of interest:

• Comparative Review of Best Practice Guidelines for the Diversion of Drug Related Offenders (Bull, 2005)
• Evaluating the Usefulness of a Prostitution Diversion Project (Wahab, 2006)
• The Limits to Diversion from Prosecution (Sanders, 1988)
• Outcomes of Mandated and Nonmandated New York City Jail Diversion for Offenders with Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Disorders (Broner et al, 2006)