Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T18:01:33.529Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Against the Grain: Therapeutic Judging in a Traditional Family Court

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Vicki Lens
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The last several decades have seen a proliferation of specialized courts, including within the family court system, that deviate from the adversarial model, and that rely on therapeutic jurisprudence and other problem-solving techniques. Whether and how traditional family courts can incorporate the best practices of these specialized courts is a largely understudied area. Drawing from ethnographic observations of a traditional urban family court, this study finds that some judges are able to transform nontherapeutic courtrooms into therapeutic ones despite obstacles. These “against the grain” actors, who act contrary to the institution's dominant norms and practices, demonstrate how therapeutic jurisprudence and other problem-solving techniques can be utilized in traditional courtrooms.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , Summer 2016 , pp. 701 - 718
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aos, Steve, Miller, Marna, and Drake, Elizabeth. 2006. Evidence Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs and Crime Rates. Federal Sentencing Review 19 (4): 275–90.Google Scholar
Babb, Barbara. 1998. Fashioning an Interdisciplinary Framework for Court Reform in Family Law: A Blueprint to Construct a Unified Family Court. Southern California Law Review 71:469–528.Google Scholar
Babb, Barbara. 2014. Family Courts Are Here to Stay, So Let's Improve Them. Family Court Review 52 (4): 642–47.Google Scholar
Boldt, Richard. 1998. Rehabilitative Punishment and the Drug Treatment Court Movement. Washington University Law Quarterly 76 (4):1205–1306.Google Scholar
Boyd, Reiko. 2014. African American Disproportionality and Disparity in Child Welfare: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework. Children and Youth Services Review 37:15–27.Google Scholar
Braun, Virginia, and Clarke, Victoria. 2006. Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3:77–101.Google Scholar
Bruns, Eric J., Pullmann, Michael D., Weathers, Ericka S., Wirschem, Mark L., and Murphy, Jill K. 2012. Effects of a Multidisciplinary Family Treatment Drug Court on Child and Family Outcomes: Results of a Quasi‐Experimental Study. Child Maltreatment 17 (3): 218–30.Google Scholar
Castellano, Ursula. 2011. Courting Compliance: Case Managers as “Double Agents” in the Mental Health Court. Law & Social Inquiry 36:484–511.Google Scholar
Conley, John M., and O'Barr, William M. 1990. Rules Versus Relationships: The Ethnography of Legal Discourse. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Courtney, Mark E., Dworsky, Amy, Piliavin, Irving, and Zinn, Andrew. 2005. Involvement of TANF Applicant Families with Child Welfare Services. Social Service Review 79 (1): 119–57.Google Scholar
Cummings, John E. 2010. The Cost of Crazy: How Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Mental Health Courts Lower Incarceration Costs, Reduce Recidivism, and Improve Public Safety. Loyola Law Review 56:279–310.Google Scholar
Downey, Mitchell P., and Roman, John K. 2010. A Bayesian Meta‐Analysis of Drug Court Cost‐Effectiveness. Washington, DC: Crime Policy Institute.Google Scholar
Emerson, Robert M., Fretz, Rachel I., and Shaw, Linda L. 1995. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
Erlandson, David A., Harris, Edward L., Skipper, Barbara L., and Allen, Steve D. 1993. Doing Naturalistic Inquiry: A Guide to Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Farole, Donald, J., and Cissner, Amanda B. 2005. Seeing Eye to Eye? Participant and Staff Perspectives on Drug Courts. New York: New York Center for Court Innovation.Google Scholar
Fay‐Ramirez, Suzanna. 2015. Therapeutic Jurisprudence in Practice: Changes in Family Treatment Court Norms Over Time. Law & Social Inquiry 40 (1): 205–36.Google Scholar
Goffman, Erving. 1963. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice‐Hall.Google Scholar
Goffman, Erving. 1972. Relations in Public. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Green, Beth L., Furrer, Carrie, Worcel, Sonia, Burrus, Scott, and Finigan, Michael W. 2007. How Effective Are Family Treatment Drug Courts? Outcomes from a Four‐Site National Study. Child Maltreatment 12 (1): 43–59.Google Scholar
Guest, Greg, MacQueen, Kathleen M., and Namey, Emily E. 2012. Applied Thematic Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Heritage, John. 1997. Conversation Analysis and Institutional Talk: Analyzing Data. In Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice, ed. Silverman, David, 103–47. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Kahn, Alfred. 1953. A Court for Children: A Study of the New York City Children's Court. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Knoblauch, Herbert. 2005. Focused Ethnography. Forum: Qualitative Research 6:Art. 44.Google Scholar
Landsman, Stephen. 1983. A Brief Survey of the Development of the Adversary System. Ohio State Law Journal 44:713–39.Google Scholar
Latimer, Jeff, Morton‐Bourgon, Kelly, and Chretien, Jo‐Anne. 2006. A Meta‐Analytical Examination of Drug Treatment Courts: Do They Reduce Recidivism? Ottawa, ON: Department of Justice.Google Scholar
Lens, Vicki. 2013. Revisiting the Promise of Kelly v. Goldberg in the Era of Welfare Reform. Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy 21 (1): 43–89.Google Scholar
Lens, Vicki. forthcoming. Engaging Parents in Family Court: Lessons from an Observational Study of Child Protection Cases. Journal of Social Work.Google Scholar
Mack, Kathy, and Anleu, Sharyn Roach. 2010. Performing Impartiality: Demeanor and Legitimacy. Law & Social Inquiry 35 (1): 137–73.Google Scholar
Maynard‐Moody, Steven, and Musheno, Michael. 2003. Cops, Teachers, Counselors: Stories from the Front Lines of Public Service. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Maze, Candice L., and Hannah, Stefanie A. 2008. Perspectives on Therapeutic Jurisprudence in Dependency Court in Cases Involving Battered Mothers. Juvenile and Family Court Journal 59 (1): 33–45.Google Scholar
McCoy, Candace. 2003. The Politics of Problem‐Solving: An Overview of the Origins and Development of Therapeutic Courts. American Criminal Law Review 40 (4): 1513–34.Google Scholar
New York City Family Court. 2010. Annual Report. New York: New York City Family Court.Google Scholar
Nolan, James L. 2002. Therapeutic Adjudication. Society 39 (2): 29–38.Google Scholar
Nolan, James L. 2003. Redefining Criminal Courts: Problem‐Solving and the Meaning of Justice. American Criminal Law Review 40 (4): 1541–65.Google Scholar
O'Keefe, Kelly. 2006. The Brooklyn Mental Health Court Evaluation. New York: Center for Court Innovation.Google Scholar
Perlin, Michael L. 2013. “The Judge, He Cast His Robe Aside”: Mental Health Courts, Dignity and Due Process. Mental Health Law & Policy Journal 3:1–28.Google Scholar
Picard‐Fritsche, Sarah, Bryan, Jennifer, Kralstein, Dana, and Farley, Erin. 2011. The Bronx Family Treatment Court 2005–2010: Impact on Family Court Outcomes and Participant Experiences and Perceptions. New York: Center for Court Innovation.Google Scholar
Poythress, Norman G., Petrila, John, McGaha, Annette, and Boothroyd, Roger. 2002. Perceived Coercion and Procedural Justice in the Broward Mental Health Court. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 25:517–33.Google Scholar
Reich, Jennifer A. 2005. Fixing Families: Parents, Power, and the Child Welfare System. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Rossman, Shelli B., Rempel, Michael, Roman, John K., Zweig, Janine M., Lindquist, Christine H., Green, Mia, Mitchell Downey, P., Yahner, Jennifer, Bhati, Avinash S., and Farole, Donald J. Jr. 2011. What Have We Learned from the Multi‐Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation? Implications for Policy, Practice, and Future Research. In The Multi‐Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation: The Impact of Drug Courts, ed. Rossman, Shelli B., Roman, John K., Zweig, Janine M., Rempel, Michael and Lindquist, Christine H., 251–67. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Justice Policy Center.Google Scholar
Rottman, David B. 2000. Does Effective Therapeutic Jurisprudence Require Specialized Courts (and Do Specialized Courts Imply Specialist Judges)? Court Review Spring:22–27.Google Scholar
Satel, Sally. 1998. Observational Study of Courtroom Dynamics in Selected Drug Courts. National Drug Court Institute Review 1 (1): 43–72.Google Scholar
Senjo, Scott, and Leip, Leslie. 2001. Testing Therapeutic Jurisprudence Theory: An Empirical Assessment of the Drug Court Process. Western Criminology Review 3 (1): 1–21.Google Scholar
Spinak, Jane M. 2002. Adding Value to Families: The Potential of Model Families Court. Wisconsin Law Review 2002 (2): 327–71.Google Scholar
Spinak, Jane M. 2008. Romancing the Court. Family Court Review 46 (2): 258–74.Google Scholar
Spinak, Jane M. 2010. A Conversation About Problem‐Solving Courts: Take 2. University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class 10:113–36.Google Scholar
Tiger, Rebecca. 2013. Judging Addicts: Drug Courts and Coercion in the Justice System. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Tyler, Tom. 2006. Why People Obey the Law. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Watkins‐Hayes, Celeste. 2009. The New Welfare Bureaucrats: Entanglements of Race, Class, and Policy Reform. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Wexler, David B. 1993. Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Changing Concepts of Legal Scholarship. Behavioral Sciences and the Law 11:17–29.Google Scholar
Winick, Bruce J. 2002–2003. Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Problem Solving Courts. Fordham Urban Law Journal 30:1055–90.Google Scholar
Worcel, Sonia D., Furrer, Carrie J., Green, Beth L., Burrus, Scott W., and Finigan, Michael. 2008. Effects of Family Treatment Drug Courts on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare Outcomes. Child Abuse Review 17:427–43.Google Scholar