In recent years, the interdisciplinary perspective of therapeutic jurisprudence -- which focuses on the law's impact on emotional life and psychological well-being -- has increasingly moved from the academic world into the world of judging and law practice. The psychological sensitivity and insights provided by the 'lens' of therapeutic jurisprudence have mixed with the pragmatic procedures of related perspectives -- such as preventive law -- to allow interested lawyers to truly 'practice' therapeutic jurisprudence. Stolle, Wexler, and Winick designed this volume -- covering civil and criminal contexts and courtroom and law office settings -- for practicing lawyers as well as for use in clinical courses, in legal counseling courses, and in courses on 'new directions' in lawyering. It will be of value and interest to those engaged in preventive law, collaborative law, restorative justice, holistic lawyering, mediation and alternative dispute resolution, and indeed to all who seek to humanize the law and its practice -- and to enrich the lives of lawyers. With this volume, law can take its rightful place as a legitimate member of the helping professions. "[This book] is a wonderful tool for lawyers in criminal or civil practice, litigation, and in all fields of law including dispute resolution." -- Carolyn E. Hansen, New York Law Journal "This collection of articles includes the theoretical basis of TJ, but most importantly, it shows how TJ can be used in a variety of settings and practice areas." -- Richard L. Halpert, American Bar Association

This book seeks to bridge the traditional divide between scholarship and practice in the field of law. It introduces the interdisciplinary perspective of therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) and then, largely through the thoughtful and informative essays of practitioners and clinical law professors, shows how criminal law practice can be enriched -- and how clients can benefit -- from lawyers looking at their practice with a TJ lens. Lawyers can be positive change agents for many of their clients, and will find that this approach can markedly increase their own professional satisfaction and enhance their professional image. "Rehabilitating Lawyers is the kind of smart and balanced book too often absent from the fractious debate about the future of our criminal justice system. By embracing healing as a legitimate criminal justice goal, Professor Wexler offers up an exciting new paradigm in which lawyers finally deserve the label 'counselor.'" -- Robin Steinberg, Executive Director, Bronx Defenders "Criminal law, criminal lawyers and their clients need more than skillful representation in court. For the cycle of offending to be slowed, for criminal law to meet its stated objectives, and for criminal lawyers to survive burnout, fundamental reconceptualising of the law and lawyering are needed. Rehabilitating Lawyers provides a challenging way of reframing through therapeutic jurisprudence how opportunities for reclamation of offenders can be fostered and criminal lawyers can play a role in reducing recidivist offending. It explores how the ethical practice of criminal law by attorneys and judges alike, from charging through trials and sentencing and into probation, can be made more humane and constructive." -- Dr. Ian Freckelton SC, Barrister, Melbourne, Australia, Professor of Law, Forensic Medicine and Psychological Medicine, Monash University "The editor hopes that this book will bridge the wide academic/legal practitioner divide. It has done so admirably....This inspirational edition deserves wide circulation and further incorporation of its ideas into legal education, court practice and legislative action." -- Law Institute Journal, October 2008 "The most interesting, important and innovative book I have read about the practice of law in many years. I'm a former Public Defender (still one at heart), and I hope this book is read by all of those who devote themselves valiantly to this most undervalued position. Anyone who has ever represented a criminal defendant owes Professor Wexler a great debt of gratitude."-- Professor Michael L. Perlin, Director, International Mental Disability Law Reform Project, Director, Online Mental Disability Law Program New York Law School "Wexler's collection deserves a place on the shelves of academics interested in this important area of legal education; it is a balanced well referenced source, and a great primer for this area of theory and practice. An equally important reading audience are court administrators, judges and Attorneys General who have the clout to implement some of these suggestions." -- Australian Lawyers Alliance Journal

Part I of this book describes the newly emerging problem-solving courts (such as drug treatment courts, domestic violence courts, mental health courts, etc.) and other related approaches to problem-solving judging and judging with an explicit ethic of care. Authors Winick and Wexler show how judges can use therapeutic jurisprudence not only in specialized problem-solving courts, but in general civil and criminal judicial settings as well. In Part II, the book covers emerging "principles" of therapeutic jurisprudence that seem to be at work in successful judicial approaches: how courts can encourage offender reform, how they can help offenders develop problem-solving and coping skills, how they can encourage offender compliance with release conditions, how they can serve as effective risk managers, and much more. "Rarely does the academic work of law scholars have such a clear-cut impact in shaping the research agendas of a broad range of legal academics. Rarer still are the times when such legal scholarship positively impacts the working lives of judges and practicing lawyers. As these essays make abundantly clear, therapeutic jurisprudence has come of age as a legal discipline in its own right, ready to be further tested carefully and strategically within our judicial system... The authors assembled in this worthy volume believe strongly in the law's potential to serve as a 'healing agent' and seek to cast judges and lawyers in the roles of peacemakers and creative problem-solvers. Their vision deserves our serious consideration." -- The Journal of Legal Medicine "Winick and Wexler have gathered an impressive collection that both introduces the topic to newcomers and provides additional depth for those already generally aware of the concepts." -- Steve Leben in The Justice System Journal

Law is a multi-dimensional aspect of modern society that constantly shifts and changes over time. In recent years, the practice of therapeutic jurisprudence has increased significantly as a valuable discipline. Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Overcoming Violence Against Women is a comprehensive reference source for the latest scholarly research on the strategic role of jurisprudential practices to benefit women and protect women’s rights. Highlighting a range of perspectives on topics such as reproductive rights, workplace safety, and victim-offender overlap, this book is ideally designed for academics, practitioners, policy makers, students, and practitioners seeking research on utilizing the law as a social force in modern times.

In this completely revised and updated classic, Professors Roberts and Springer, along with 51 justice-oriented and forensic experts, have set the standard of care for mental health treatment and the delivery of social services to crime victims, juvenile and adult offenders, and their families. The second edition of Social Work in Juvenile and Criminal Justice Settings was published almost ten years ago in 1997, and was also translated to Chinese. Now Dr. Roberts, Dr. Springer, and their team of 51 prominent chapter authors have done such a thorough job of updating and finding new authors, that the end result is a comprehensive new book. In this third edition, 16 of the 31 chapters are new and specially written for this book. A growing number of mental health professionals are recognizing the need to examine current evidence-based program developments, assessment, and treatment practices with crime victims and offenders. This book focuses on the multiple roles and practices of justice social workers, also known as forensic social workers and crisis counselors. Many professional social workers, counselors and field placement students work in corrections and probation, forensic mental health, addictions treatment, juvenile justice, victim assistance, and police social work settings. In the words of Dean Barbara W. White (former President, Council on Social Work Education, and NASW) in her laudatory Foreword to this edition: "This groundbreaking book provides the necessary blueprints and guidelines for best practices with crime victims as well as juvenile and adult offenders in institutional, community- based, diversion, and aftercare programs. . . . This is the first all-inclusive, authoritative, exceptionally well-written volume on social policies and social work practices in both juvenile justice and criminal justice settings. . . . This book is a landmark achievement." An increasing number of offenders and victims have been found to be

Drug courts offer offenders an intensive court-based treatment program as an alternative to the normal adjudication process. Begun in 1989, they have since spread dramatically throughout the United States. In this interdisciplinary examination of the expanding movement, a distinguished panel of legal practitioners and academics offers theoretical assessments and on-site empirical analyses of the workings of various courts in the United States, along with detailed comparisons and contrasts with related developments in Britain. Practitioners, politicians, and academics alike acknowledge the profound impact drug courts have had on the American criminal justice system. From a range of disciplinary perspectives, contributors to this volume seek to make sense of this important judicial innovation. While addressing a range of questions, Drug Courts also aims to achieve a careful balance between focused empirical studies and broader theoretical analyses of the same phenomenon. The volume maintains an analytical concentration on drug courts and on the important practical, philosophical, and jurisprudential consequences of this unique form of therapeutic jurisprudence. Drug courts depart from the practices and procedures of typical criminal courts. Prosecutors and defense counsel play much-reduced roles. Often lawyers are not even present during regular drug court sessions. Instead, the main courtroom drama is between the judge and client, both of whom speak openly and freely in the drug court setting. Often accompanying the client is a treatment provider who advises the judge and reviews the client's progress in treatment. Court sessions are characterized by expressive and sometimes tearful testimonies about the recovery process, and are often punctuated with applause from those in attendance. Taken together, the chapters provide a variety of perspectives on drug courts, and extend our knowledge of the birth and evolution of a new movement. Drug Courts is an essential reference for courses in criminology, the sociology of drugs and deviance, and the philosophy of law and punishment.

Law in a Therapeutic Key is an anthology of works written by authors from a variety of backgrounds. This book illustrates some of the best and most provocative new therapeutic jurisprudence work in fields ranging from mental health law to correctional law, criminal law, family and juvenile law, evidence law, labor arbitration law, and many more. "[A] rich compendium of the best of what David Wexler and Bruce Winick have wrought... a mature and reflective work, and the most comprehenisve treatment of the therapeutic paradigm to date." -- John Monahan, University of Virginia "The crucial insight embedded in these essays is that all law, ranging from contracts to criminal law, can promote or retard the psychological well-being of persons who become involved with the legal system. Unless we acknowledge these therapeutic considerations in the law-making process, we risk fostering individual--and therefore societal--dysfunction." -- Paul Appelbaum, University of Massachusetts Medical Center

Coercive medico-legal interventions are often employed to prevent people deemed to be unable to make competent decisions about their health, such as minors, people with mental illness, disability or problematic alcohol or other drug use, from harming themselves or others. These interventions can entail major curtailments of individuals’ liberty and bodily integrity, and may cause significant harm and distress. The use of coercive medico-legal interventions can also serve competing social interests that raise profound ethical, legal and clinical questions. Examining the ethical, social and legal issues involved in coerced care, this book brings together the views and insights of leading researchers from a range of disciplines, including criminology, law, ethics, psychology and public health, as well as legal and medical practitioners, social-service ‘consumers’ and government officials. Topics addressed in this volume include: compulsory treatment and involuntary detention orders in civil mental health and disability law; mandatory alcohol and drug treatment programs and drug courts; community treatment orders; the use of welfare cards with Indigenous populations; mandated treatment of seriously ill minors; as well as adult guardianship and substituted decision-making regimes. These contributions attempt to shed light on why we use coercive interventions, whether we should, whether they are effective in achieving the benefits that are offered to justify their use, and the impact that they have on some of society’s most vulnerable citizens in the names of ‘justice’ and ‘treatment’. This book is essential reading for clinicians, researchers and legal practitioners involved in the study and application of coerced care, as well as students and scholars in the fields of law, medicine, ethics and criminology. The collection asks important questions about the increasing use of coercive care that demand to be answered, and offers critical insights, guidance and recommendations for those working in the field.

In 1989, the first drug-treatment court was established in Florida, inaugurating an era of state-supervised rehabilitation. Such courts have frequently been seen as a humane alternative to incarceration and the war on drugs. Enforcing Freedom offers an ethnographic account of drug courts and mandatory treatment centers as a system of coercion, demonstrating how the state uses notions of rehabilitation as a means of social regulation. Situating drug courts in a long line of state projects of race and class control, Kerwin Kaye details the ways in which the violence of the state is framed as beneficial for those subjected to it. He explores how courts decide whether to release or incarcerate participants using nominally colorblind criteria that draw on racialized imagery. Rehabilitation is defined as preparation for low-wage labor and the destruction of community ties with “bad influences,” a process that turns participants against one another. At the same time, Kaye points toward the complex ways in which participants negotiate state control in relation to other forms of constraint in their lives, sometimes embracing the state’s salutary violence as a means of countering their impoverishment. Simultaneously sensitive to ethnographic detail and theoretical implications, Enforcing Freedom offers a critical perspective on the punitive side of criminal-justice reform and points toward alternative paths forward.