Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Abstract

Abstract Therapeutic jurisprudence is an innovative, interdisciplinary field that integrates law and the social sciences by studying the role of law as a therapeutic agent. Therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) acknowledges that law is a social force with inevitable effects on the mental health and psychological functioning of people. TJ recognizes that legal rules, legal procedures, and legal actors intentionally or unintentionally produce therapeutic or antitherapeutic consequences. TJ explicitly seeks to maximize the therapeutic consequences and minimize any countertherapeutic effects, so long as due process and other important values are fully respected. It therefore focuses on individuals' psychological and emotional well‐being. TJ is equally relevant to legal reform, legislative efforts, appellate courts' opinions, lawyering methods and strategies, and the work of judges, police officers, and probation officers. TJ's insights have led to proposals for new laws, for changes in the way judges, lawyers, and other legal actors interact with others, and for changes in the processes by which existing laws are administered, applied, and enforced. TJ's applications have expanded from traditional mental health topics such as the insanity plea, civil commitment, the right to refuse mental health treatment, and competence to stand trial to many substantive areas such as: correctional law, criminal law, family law, juvenile law, disability law, labor and employment law, health law, evidence law, personal injury law, contract law, commercial law, probate law, the legal profession, mediation, and alternative dispute resolution. This chapter reviews the vast literature on TJ and explores its insights, challenges, and future.