Psychosocial Care for Offenders with Mild Substance Use Disorders
ABSTRACT
Thailand’s justice system has long faced challenges in addressing drug-related offenses, as punishment alone is insufficient to address the psychological and social factors underlying repeated offending. In response to evolving legal and policy frameworks, particularly the Narcotics Code, the Thai Judiciary introduced the Psychosocial Counseling Program in 2014 as a diversion and rehabilitation measure. By 2025, 175,272 suspects and defendants had received counseling across all 236 first-instance courts handling drug-related cases nationwide, reflecting Thailand’s shift from punishment toward treatment, rehabilitation, and social reintegration.
Court-based psychosocial clinics provide individual, family, and group counseling guided by Therapeutic Justice and Restorative Justice to promote behavioral change, reduce substance use and reoffending, and support psychosocially informed judicial decision-making. Bringing together judges, psychologists, social workers, volunteer counselors, counselees, families, and external networks, the clinics embody the principle that “the court is the center but does not work alone,” integrating justice, health, social support, probation, and community-based services.
Psychosocial care spans pre- and post-trial stages and applies the SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) framework. Standardized screening, including WHO ASSIST-LITE and mental health assessments, guides risk-based service matching: low-risk cases are managed in court-based clinics, while moderate- to high-risk cases receive brief intervention and referral to appropriate health services.
Sustainable service quality depends on counselor capacity building. Court-appointed volunteer counselors receive core training for three complementary roles: Facilitator (self-awareness and personal change), Life Coach (goal setting and problem-solving), and Psychoeducator (mental health education, screening, and referral). Practice is supported by basic counseling skills, motivational interviewing, active listening, open-ended questioning, reflection, case formulation, multidisciplinary case conferences, and structured handover to community services to ensure continuity of care.
The program receives strong endorsement from judges and court administrators, who recognize psychosocial counseling as an appropriate component of court-based drug rehabilitation and express confidence in clinic and counselor capacity. Ultimately, psychosocial counseling seeks benefits for both counselees and the justice system, including reduced crisis and stress, improved compliance and treatment engagement, reduced substance use and reoffending, stronger family relationships, and sustainable social reintegration, while advancing rehabilitation-oriented and evidence-informed justice
