Therapeutic Justice: A New Scientifically Rigorous Approach to the Reintegration of Offenders
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Abstract
Therapeutic Jurisprudence, or TJ, is a recent approach, derived from critical criminology, but which focuses on the usefulness of therapeutic notions from psychology in the field of criminal justice to combine legal and prevention aspects in the treatment of offenders. The results of research and evaluations that have demonstrated the benefits of TJ in terms of reducing criminal recidivism, improving mental health, the well-being of participants, and cost savings for the criminal justice system are discussed. However, from the General Theory of Law to leading epistemologists such as K. Popper, the a priori use of psychology, as of any idealistic formulation, is discarded due to its excessive subjectivism and lack of scientificity. This article highlights that the results of the TJ reposition the importance of philosophy in the scientific debate, as well as aspects of psychological, mantic and aesthetic thought in the criminological debate, since its results, although their procedures are ubiquitous, are sufficiently stable for empirical utility and rigorous thought. It is recommended to deepen the analytical knowledge of the resources and instruments of the TJ for the debate on the notion of science and the strengthening of the criminological episteme.
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