Nga Whenu Raranga/Weaving Strands in the Alcohol and other Drug Treatment Court of Aotearoa/New Zealand
Thom, K.; Black, S.
Journal of Law and Medicine 25(3): 727-740
2018
ISSN/ISBN: 1320-159X PMID: 29978664 Document Number: 695479
This article reports findings from an ethnographic study that explored the meaning of therapeutic in the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment (AODT) Court in New Zealand. Descriptions are provided of the therapeutic framework called ngā whenu raranga/weaving strands that resulted from interviews with court team members (n = 25), courtroom observations (200 hours), and document analysis. This includes the details of four strands; Law, United States Best Practice, Recovery and Lore that compose the framework. We argue that the therapeutic framework is simultaneously a philosophical and practical accomplishment and we provide brief examples of how the four strands are woven together, with each strand shaping the other, as the court team, participants and wider community interact together. The article concludes by considering the implications of the study's findings, focusing on challenges that come with the widening of therapeutic discourse in the AODT Court.