Therapeutic Jurisprudence
- LAST REVIEWED: 15 January 2020
- LAST MODIFIED: 15 January 2020
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195396607-0203
- LAST REVIEWED: 15 January 2020
- LAST MODIFIED: 15 January 2020
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195396607-0203
Introduction
Therapeutic jurisprudence is an interdisciplinary method of legal scholarship that aims to reform the law in order to positively impact the psychological well-being of the accused person. In 1990, law professors David Wexler and Bruce Winick coined the term “therapeutic jurisprudence” to acknowledge the sociopsychological consequences of any legal action and that these consequences can be impacted by the interpretation of substantive legal rules and procedures. Therapeutic Jurisprudence: The Law as a Therapeutic Agent by David Wexler (Wexler 1990, cited under General Overviews) asserts that the law is capable of operating as a therapeutic agent. In essence, therapeutic jurisprudence examines the extent to which substantive rules, legal procedures, the roles of court personnel such as lawyers, judges, and court administrators combine to produce therapeutic or nontherapeutic consequences, by taking a non-adversarial approach to the administration of justice. The key stakeholders in court proceedings combine their efforts to create a strategy that will assist the offender to take responsibility for making positive changes in their own lives. The use of this approach is becoming more widespread, and principles of therapeutic jurisprudence have also been discussed in light of family law, employment law, torts, and in personal injury law. Although therapeutic jurisprudence has been largely well received, some academics and practitioners have questioned its unfettered implementation. The therapeutic jurisprudential approach argues that any anti-therapeutic consequence of a legal decision should be avoided and where possible, a holistic solution should be found that addresses the behavioral, emotional, psychological, or situational issues of the accused person. However, the use of this approach should not impinge on the operation of the court nor interfere with the administration of justice. Although therapeutic jurisprudence has been largely well received, some academics and practitioners have questioned its unfettered implementation. The rapid dissemination of therapeutic jurisprudence without the accompanying evaluative research has led to varying opinions of the effectiveness of this problem-solving model within the courts and has led some commentators to misinterpret this approach by labeling it paternalistic and coercive. The therapeutic jurisprudential approach is aligned closely with the subsequent development of the mental health court and is also relied heavily upon in other problem-solving court models including drug and other specialist courts.
Key Journals
This section discusses the key national and international journals that publish leading research on therapeutic jurisprudence. Several main journals publish articles in relation to the application and operation of principles of therapeutic jurisprudence. Behavioral Sciences and the Law is an American journal that publishes theoretical and empirical studies that relate to human behavior and legal issues. Importantly, this journal publishes an annual edition that specifically examines international studies. This enables the reader to trace international developments in therapeutic jurisprudence. Law and Human Behavior deals almost exclusively with psycho-legal research. Psychiatry, Psychology and the Law is an Australian publication that publishes international papers relating to the application and efficacy of methods, such as therapeutic jurisprudence. The International Journal of Law and Psychiatry provides comparative analyses of national and international approaches to utilizing therapeutic jurisprudence in practice. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law is an official journal of the American Psychological Association, which considers the contribution of psychology to the public policy and legal issues.
Behavioral Sciences and the Law. 1983–.
Each issue of this journal is based around a particular topic; therapeutic jurisprudence, problem-solving courts, and mental health courts are routinely examined in both empirical and theoretical studies. This is an American-based journal; however, it also publishes international studies.
International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. 1978–.
A multidisciplinary journal that publishes research from the legal, mental health, and social sciences sectors. This journal has a focus on publishing comparative studies on various jurisdictions.
Law and Human Behavior. 1977–.
An interdisciplinary journal that publishes articles discussing issues that arise from the relationships between human behavior, the law, the legal system, and legal processes. It is the official journal of the American Psychology-Law Society (APA Division 41).
Psychiatry, Psychology and the Law. 1994–.
The journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and the Law. This journal has an interdisciplinary focus that is geared toward students, academics, legal practitioners, and mental health professionals.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. 1995–.
This journal publishes empirical and theoretical articles that examine the contribution of psychologists to the law and public policy. This journal is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate researchers, as well as practitioners who work in the legal, public policy, and psychological fields.
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Article
- Active Offender Research
- Actus Reus
- Adler, Freda
- Adversarial System of Justice
- Adverse Childhood Experiences
- Aging Prison Population, The
- Airport and Airline Security
- Alcohol and Drug Prohibition
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- Anomie
- Arson
- Art Crime
- Back-End Sentencing and Parole Revocation
- Bail and Pretrial Detention
- Batterer Intervention Programs
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- Big Data and Communities and Crime
- Biosocial Criminology
- Blackmail
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- Bystander Intervention
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- Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
- CompStat Models of Police Performance Management
- Confessions, False and Coerced
- Conservation Criminology
- Consumer Fraud
- Contextual Analysis of Crime
- Control Balance Theory
- Convict Criminology
- Co-Offending and the Role of Accomplices
- Corporate Crime
- Costs of Crime and Justice
- Courts, Drug
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- Courts, Mental Health
- Courts, Problem-Solving
- Crime and Justice in Latin America
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- Crime Prevention, Delinquency and
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- Crime Prevention, Voluntary Organizations and
- Crime Trends
- Crime Victims' Rights Movement
- Criminal Career Research
- Criminal Decision Making, Emotions in
- Criminal Justice Data Sources
- Criminal Justice Ethics
- Criminal Justice Fines and Fees
- Criminal Justice Reform, Politics of
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- Criminal Records
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- Criminal Talk
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- Drugs and Crime
- Elder Abuse
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- Fear of Crime and Perceived Risk
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- Fraud
- Gambling
- Gangs, Peers, and Co-offending
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- General Opportunity Victimization Theories
- Genetics, Environment, and Crime
- Green Criminology
- Halfway Houses
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- Hate Crime
- Hate Crime Legislation
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- Hirschi, Travis
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- History of Criminology
- Homelessness and Crime
- Homicide
- Homicide Victimization
- Honor Cultures and Violence
- Hot Spots Policing
- Human Rights
- Human Trafficking
- Identity Theft
- Immigration, Crime, and Justice
- Incarceration, Mass
- Incarceration, Public Health Effects of
- Income Tax Evasion
- Indigenous Criminology
- Institutional Anomie Theory
- Integrated Theory
- Intermediate Sanctions
- Interpersonal Violence, Historical Patterns of
- Interrogation
- Intimate Partner Violence, Criminological Perspectives on
- Intimate Partner Violence, Police Responses to
- Investigation, Criminal
- Juvenile Delinquency
- Juvenile Justice System, The
- Juvenile Waivers
- Kidnapping
- Kornhauser, Ruth Rosner
- Labeling Theory
- Labor Markets and Crime
- Land Use and Crime
- Lead and Crime
- Legitimacy
- LGBTQ Intimate Partner Violence
- LGBTQ People in Prison
- Life Without Parole Sentencing
- Local Institutions and Neighborhood Crime
- Lombroso, Cesare
- Longitudinal Research in Criminology
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- Measuring Crime
- Mediation and Dispute Resolution Programs
- Mental Health and Crime
- Merton, Robert K.
- Meta-analysis in Criminology
- Middle-Class Crime and Criminality
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- Money Laundering
- Motor Vehicle Theft
- Multi-Level Marketing Scams
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- Narrative Criminology
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- Nature Versus Nurture
- Neighborhood Disorder
- Neutralization Theory
- New Penology, The
- Offender Decision-Making and Motivation
- Offense Specialization/Expertise
- Organized Crime
- Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs
- Panel Methods in Criminology
- Peacemaking Criminology
- Peer Networks and Delinquency
- Perceptions of Youth, Juvenile Justice Professionals'
- Performance Measurement and Accountability Systems
- Personality and Trait Theories of Crime
- Persons with a Mental Illness, Police Encounters with
- Phenomenological Theories of Crime
- Plea Bargaining
- Poaching
- Police Administration
- Police Cooperation, International
- Police Discretion
- Police Effectiveness
- Police History
- Police Militarization
- Police Misconduct
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- Police Use of Force
- Police, Violence against the
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- Policing, Body-Worn Cameras and
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- Policing, Proactive
- Policing, School
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- Positivist Criminology
- Pretrial Detention, Alternatives to
- Pretrial Diversion
- Prison Administration
- Prison Classification
- Prison, Disciplinary Segregation in
- Prison Education Exchange Programs
- Prison Gangs and Subculture
- Prison History
- Prison Labor
- Prison Visitation
- Prisoner Reentry
- Prisons and Jails
- Prisons, HIV in
- Private Security
- Probation Revocation
- Procedural Justice
- Property Crime
- Prosecution and Courts
- Prostitution
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- Psychology and Crime
- Public Criminology
- Public Opinion, Crime and Justice
- Public Order Crimes
- Public Social Control and Neighborhood Crime
- Punishment Justification and Goals
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- Queer Criminology
- Race and Sentencing Research Advancements
- Race, Ethnicity, Crime, and Justice
- Racial Threat Hypothesis
- Racial Profiling
- Rape and Sexual Assault
- Rape, Fear of
- Rational Choice Theories
- Rehabilitation
- Religion and Crime
- Restorative Justice
- Risk Assessment
- Routine Activity Theories
- School Bullying
- School Crime and Violence
- School Safety, Security, and Discipline
- Search Warrants
- Seasonality and Crime
- Self-Control, The General Theory:
- Self-Report Crime Surveys
- Sentencing Enhancements
- Sentencing, Evidence-Based
- Sentencing Guidelines
- Sentencing Policy
- Sex Crimes
- Sex Offender Policies and Legislation
- Sex Trafficking
- Sexual Revictimization
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- Snitching and Use of Criminal Informants
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- Social Disorganization
- Social Ecology of Crime
- Social Learning Theory
- Social Networks
- Social Threat and Social Control
- Solitary Confinement
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- Strain Theories
- Street Code
- Street Robbery
- Substance Use and Abuse
- Surveillance, Public and Private
- Sutherland, Edwin H.
- Technology and the Criminal Justice System
- Technology, Criminal Use of
- Terrorism
- Terrorism and Hate Crime
- Terrorism, Criminological Explanations for
- Testimony, Eyewitness
- Therapeutic Jurisprudence
- Trajectory Methods in Criminology
- Transnational Crime
- Truth-In-Sentencing
- Urban Politics and Crime
- US War on Terrorism, Legal Perspectives on the
- Victim Impact Statements
- Victimization, Adolescent
- Victimization, Biosocial Theories of
- Victimization Patterns and Trends
- Victimization, Repeat
- Victimization, Vicarious and Related Forms of Secondary Tr...
- Victimless Crime
- Victim-Offender Overlap, The
- Violence Against Women
- Violence, Youth
- Violent Crime
- White-Collar Crime
- White-Collar Crime, The Global Financial Crisis and
- White-Collar Crime, Women and
- Wilson, James Q.
- Wolfgang, Marvin
- Women, Girls, and Reentry
- Wrongful Conviction