Protective Factors and the Good Lives Model: Combining Positive Approaches to Assessment and Treatment

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.