Therapeutic justice, burnout and empathy in judges of the system of criminal responsibility for adolescents in Medellin

Abstract

There is abundant literature on how complexity-based approaches to criminal justice policy, such as Therapeutic Justice (TJ), have proven to be more effective than more simplistic and circumstantial policies. However, little has been written about the effect of these policies on the administrative and professional practice of the officers responsible for their implementation. This research aims to observe the effect of the implementation of TJ on the psychological capacity of competent officers and on the variable "empathy" with these young people. To this end, professional resilience was measured in a population of five judges from the SRPA (National Criminal Justice System) in Medellín, using the TECA and CESQT questionnaires. These tools measured that SRPA judges present medium levels of burnout, as well as high psychological exhaustion, low feelings of guilt, and indifferent behaviors at work. Likewise, high global empathy was evident, as well as cognitive empathy higher than affective empathy. This paper reflects on the implementation problems of criminal policy design, taking into account complexity and situational criteria.