Team member, Dr Allan McCay, will be chairing a discussion at Sydney University on 9 August 2016 from 5.30pm for a 6pm start

Pharmacotherapies and Crime: the impact of drugs on offending behaviour

This seminar brings together a number of experts to discuss the emerging evidence around pharmacological interventions and their impact on offending behaviour and recidivism.

How might drug treatments such as Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and anti-androgens interact with the criminal justice system? Do treatments like these mandate difficult actions on offenders, or do they enhance justice outcomes? How are they comparable to other well established treatments, such as opioid substitution therapies or cognitive behavioural therapy? And how do medical treatments engage with behavioural questions around offending? Are the side effects of such interventions mitigated by justice outcomes? What is the scope for coercive drug treatment? Criminal justice practice and historical theoretical thinking have long debated the biological aspects of offending and treatment.

This seminar will explore the evidence base for use of certain drugs and their individual impact on offending, including the critical ethical, moral and legal dimensions of their use.

Please join us for this first seminar of the 50th Anniversary 2016-2017 Corrective Services NSW Beyond Punishment seminar series, examining the possible futures of offender treatment.

For more details and (free but compulsory) registration please visit: http://sydney.edu.au/news/law/457.html?eventcategoryid=34&eventid=11375