TY - JOUR
T1 - A framework for the evidence-based practice of therapeutic jurisprudence
T2 - A legal therapeutic alliance
AU - Howieson, Jill A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2023/7/1
Y1 - 2023/7/1
N2 - This paper provides a theoretical rationale for using the constructs of procedural justice, trust and self-determination as a framework to guide the evidence-based practice of therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ). The overarching purpose of TJ is to provide therapeutic outcomes to all participants in the legal system. This paper proposes that in legal decision-making, running a procedurally just process that generates trust amongst participants and allows the parties to experience self-determination, creates a dynamic akin to the therapeutic alliance, which, in therapy, is a reliable predictor of therapeutic outcomes. The paper argues that when a legal therapeutic alliance forms in a legal decision-making process then positive therapeutic outcomes are possible, and the process can be classified as one that accords with the philosophy of TJ. A subsequent argument is that a therapeutic court can be defined as one that enacts such a process. The paper concludes by explaining how the framework can provide both a guide to courts in designing TJ processes and an assessment framework to analyse legal decision-making processes for their therapeutic value.
AB - This paper provides a theoretical rationale for using the constructs of procedural justice, trust and self-determination as a framework to guide the evidence-based practice of therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ). The overarching purpose of TJ is to provide therapeutic outcomes to all participants in the legal system. This paper proposes that in legal decision-making, running a procedurally just process that generates trust amongst participants and allows the parties to experience self-determination, creates a dynamic akin to the therapeutic alliance, which, in therapy, is a reliable predictor of therapeutic outcomes. The paper argues that when a legal therapeutic alliance forms in a legal decision-making process then positive therapeutic outcomes are possible, and the process can be classified as one that accords with the philosophy of TJ. A subsequent argument is that a therapeutic court can be defined as one that enacts such a process. The paper concludes by explaining how the framework can provide both a guide to courts in designing TJ processes and an assessment framework to analyse legal decision-making processes for their therapeutic value.
KW - Legal therapeutic alliance
KW - Procedural justice
KW - Self-determination
KW - Therapeutic jurisprudence
KW - Therapeutic outcomes
KW - Trust
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85165084134&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijlp.2023.101906
DO - 10.1016/j.ijlp.2023.101906
M3 - Article
C2 - 37451069
AN - SCOPUS:85165084134
SN - 0160-2527
VL - 89
JO - International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
JF - International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
M1 - 101906
ER -