Therapeutic Justice: A New Scientifically Rigorous Approach to the Reintegration of Offenders

• Mercy Liliana Borbón Hoyos

  Universidad Santiago de Cali, Colombia.

  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8349-635X

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.

Adolphe, A., van Golde, C., & Blaszczynski, A. (2019). Examining the potential for therapeutic jurisprudence in cases of gambling-related criminal offending in Australia. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 31(2), 236–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2019.1603071

Andretta, J. R., Worrell, F. C., Ramirez, A. M., Barnes, M. E., Odom, T., & Woodland, M. H. (2016). A pathway model for emotional distress and implications for therapeutic jurisprudence in African American juvenile court respondents. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22(3), 341–349. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000053

Aniyar de Castro, L. (2010). Criminología de los Derechos Humanos. Criminología Axiológica como Política Criminal. Editores del Puerto. Buenos Aires.

Arstein-Kerslake, A., & Black, J. (2020). Right to legal capacity in therapeutic jurisprudence: Insights from critical disability theory and the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 68, 101535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2019.101535

ASU Center for Problem-Oriented Policing (2004). Step 8: Use the problem analysis triangle. Arizona State University. https://popcenter.asu.edu/content/step-8-use-problem-analysis-triangle

Baratta, A. (1999). Criminologia Critica e Crítica do Direito Penal. Introducao a Sociologia do Direito Penal. Instituto Carioca de Criminología. Colecao Pensamiento Criminológico. Freitas Bastos Editora. Rio de Janeiro.

Bartels, L. (2019). HOPE-ful bottles: Examining the potential for Hawaii’s opportunity probation with enforcement (HOPE) to help mainstream therapeutic jurisprudence. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 63, 26–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2018.06.004

Birgden, A., & Perlin, M. L. (2009). “Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison”: A human rights perspective on therapeutic jurisprudence and the role of forensic psychologists in correctional settings. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14(4), 256–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2009.04.002

Brookbanks, W. (2001). Therapeutic jurisprudence: Conceiving an ethical framework. JOURNAL OF LAW AND MEDICINE, 8(3), 328–341. https://doi.org/10.3316/agispt.20010938

Castro Aniyar, D. (2022). El arte de la predicción social. Apuntes sobre el uso de la ciencia y las emociones en sistemas inteligentes de predicción, en Cruz Marte, I. y Espinoza, A. (2022). El Futuro del Delito. Prognosis y Propuestas para el Campo Jurídico y Criminológico en el Siglo XXI. Editorial Mawil. https://mawil.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/EL-FUTURO-DEL-DELITO.pdf

Cerminara, K. L. (2019). Therapeutic jurisprudence’s future in health law: Bringing the patient back into the picture. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 63, 56–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2018.06.008

Christie, N. (1982). Limits to Pain. Martin Robertson. Oxford.

Diesen, C., & Koch, H. (2016). Contemporary 21st century therapeutic jurisprudence in civil cases: Building bridges between law and psychology. Ethics, Medicine and Public Health, 2(1), 13–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemep.2016.01.003

Droppelmann, C., Valdés-Riesco, A., & Villagra, C. (2022). Therapeutic jurisprudence and the desistance paradigm: Theoretical and practical convergences for social reintegration. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 82, 101790. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2022.101790

Evans, A., & King, M. (2012). Reflections on the connection of virtue ethics to therapeutic jurisprudence. UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES LAW JOURNAL, 35(3), 717–746. https://doi.org/10.3316/agispt.20132297

Fay-Ramirez, S. (2015). Therapeutic Jurisprudence in Practice: Changes in Family Treatment Court Norms Over Time. Law & Social Inquiry, 40(1), 205–236. https://doi.org/10.1111/lsi.12067

Félix Junior, I. J., Calheiros, P. R. V., & Crispim, P. di T. B. (2018). Motivação para Mudança no Uso de Substâncias entre Usuários de Drogas Encaminhados pela Justiça. Trends in Psychology, 26, 1363–1378. https://doi.org/10.9788/TP2018.3-09Pt

Felson, Marcus (1995) Those Who Discourage Crime, en Crime and Place. Crime Prevention Studies. Vol. 4. Willow Tree Press. Monsey, New York.http://www.popcenter.org/library/crime- prevention/volume_04/.

Ferrazzi, P., & Krupa, T. (2016). Re: Mental health rehabilitation in therapeutic jurisprudence: Theoretical improvements. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 46, 42–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2016.02.028

Fortes, P. D., & Rego, S. (2020). Justiça, cuidado e reconhecimento: Trama moral do vínculo terapêutico. Revista Bioética, 28, 464–470. https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-80422020283408

Frederick, A. (2014). Veterans Treatment Courts: Analysis and Recommendations. Law and Psychology Review, 38, 211.

Furlong, S. W. A. (2021). Therapeutic jurisprudence: A possible prescription for a hypertensive criminal justice system [Masters, University of Southern Queensland]. https://doi.org/10.26192/p3kv-a718

Hulsman, L. & Bernat de Celis, J. (1984). Sistema Penal y Seguridad Ciudadana: Hacia una Alternativa. Ariel Derecho. Barcelona.

Ibusuki, M. (2019). On implementing a therapeutic jurisprudence-based criminal justice system in Japan. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 63, 63–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2018.07.007

Imiera, P. P. (2018). Therapeutic jurisprudence and restorative justice: Healing crime victims, restoring the offenders. De Jure Law Journal, 51(1), 82–101. https://doi.org/10.17159/2225-7160/2018/v51n1a6

Kawalek, A. (2020). A tool for measuring therapeutic jurisprudence values during empirical research. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 71, 101581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2020.101581

King, M. (2009). Solution-Focused Judging Bench Book. Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration Incorporated. Legal Services Board. Melbourne, Victoria.

Lens, V., Katz, C. C., & Suarez, K. S. (2016). Case workers in family court: A therapeutic jurisprudence analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 68, 107–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.06.027

Lim, L., & Day, A. (2016). An examination of stakeholder attitudes and understanding of therapeutic jurisprudence in a mental health court. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 46, 27–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2016.02.024

Marcus, P. (2019). The Israel Family Court – Therapeutic jurisprudence and jurisprudential therapy from the start. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 63, 68–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2018.06.006

Meza Intriago, Dilmer (2018). Lecciones de Teoría General del Estado y del Derecho, en Castro Aniyar, D. (edit.) Leccionario de Derecho Fundamental y Criminología. Manta: Ediciones Uleam.

Moore, D. (2007). Translating Justice and Therapy: The Drug Treatment Court Networks. The British Journal of Criminology, 47(1), 42–60. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azl028

Ocampo Muñoa, M. G. (2019). Acercamiento a una Justicia Terapéutica intercultural en Chiapas. Intersticios sociales, 18, 105–126.

Parry, J. (2009) Criminal mental health and disability law. evidence and testimony: A comprehensive reference manual for lawyers, judges, and criminal justice professionals. Book Publishing. ABA Publishing. ABA. USA

Perlin, M. L. (2014). “The ladder of the law has no top and no bottom”: How therapeutic jurisprudence can give life to international human rights. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 37(6), 535–542. .https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2014.02.026

Perlin, M. L. (2017). “Have You Seen Dignity?”: The Story of the Development of Therapeutic Jurisprudence (SSRN Scholarly Paper No. 2932149). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2932149

Petrucci, C. J. (2021). If We Measure It, They Will Come: A Realist Evaluation Approach in a Therapeutic Jurisprudence Context. Family Court Review, 59(3), 521–533. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12592

Popper, K. (1979) [1969]. La Logique des Sciences Sociales, en De Vienne à Francfort. La querelle Allemande des Sciences Sociales. Editions Complexe. Bruxelles.

Richardson, E., Spencer, P., & Wexler, D. B. (2016). The International Framework for Court Excellence and Therapeutic Jurisprudence: Creating Excellent Courts and Enhancing Wellbeing (SSRN Scholarly Paper No. 2782162). https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2782162

Ronel, N., & Segev, D. (2014). Positive Criminology in Practice. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 58(11), 1389–1407. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X13491933

Ronel, N., & Segev, D. (2015). Positive Criminology. Routledge.

Santiago Reyes, M. & Marroquín Urestarazu, M (2002). Situación actual de las cárceles de la región Mixteca y costa del Estado de Oaxaca. ALTAMIRANO, Año 3, Segunda Época, Mayo-Junio 2002 N° 26. Centro de Derechos Humanos y Asesoría a Pueblos Indígenas, A.C. Fundación MacArthur

Slate, R. N. (2016). Deinstitutionalization, Criminalization of Mental Illness, and the Principle of Therapeutic Jurisprudence. Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, 26, 341.

Stobbs, N. (2014). In Defence of Therapeutic Jurisprudence: Threat, Promise and Worldview. Arizona Summit Law Review, 8, 325.

Toki, V. (2010). Therapeutic jurisprudence and mental health courts for Maori. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 33(5), 440–447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2010.09.014

Traguetto, J., & de Aquino Guimaraes, T. (2019). Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Restorative Justice in the United States: The Process of Institutionalization and the Roles of Judges. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 63(11), 1971–1989. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X19833528

West, S. G., Friedman, S. H., & Shand, J. P. (2013). Therapeutic Jurisprudence. In Wiley Encyclopedia of Forensic Science. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470061589.fsa611.pub2

Yamada, D. C. (2019). On anger, shock, fear, and trauma: Therapeutic jurisprudence as a response to dignity denials in public policy. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 63, 35–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2018.06.009

Zaffaroni, R.E. (2010). Estructura Básica del Derecho Penal. EDIAR.

• PDF (Spanish)
• HTML (Spanish)

Copyright (c) 2026 Encuentros. Revista de Ciencias Humanas, Teoría Social y Pensamiento Crítico

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.