Therapeutic Jurisprudence

[See also Problem-solving Courts and Other Court Innovations]

Therapeutic Jurisprudence, "TJ", is a holistic, interdisciplinary perspective that focuses on the law's impact on the emotional and psychological health of the participants, clients, lawyers, and judges. It is a context for the legal system which can be applied to almost any practice and incorporated into the other approaches. Some would argue that most (if not all) of the vectors are actually forms of TJ.

The goal in TJ is to bring sensitivity into law practice and it focuses on listening to participants with an awareness of the psychological and emotional issues including stress, confidence, trust.

TJ also looks at the court system and how it impacts society from either a therapeutic or non-therapeutic perspective.
David Wexler, one of the leading academicians on TJ wrote this introductory piece on Therapeutic Jurisprudence: http://www.law.arizona.edu/depts/upr-intj/intj-o.html

The primary website is www.therapeuticjurisprudence.org. The Australasian Therapeutic Jurisprudence Clearinghouse is at http://www.aija.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=206&Ite...

Subscriptions to a TJ listserv for professionals is available at http://www.law.arizona.edu/depts/upr-intj/