'Tolling for the Luckless, the Abandoned and Forsaken': Community Safety, Therapeutic Jurisprudence and International Human Rights Law as Applied to Prisoners and Detainees

Abstract

There has been an explosion of interest in therapeutic jurisprudence as both a filter and lens for viewing the extent to which the legal system serves therapeutic or anti therapeutic consequences. However, little attention has been paid to the impact of therapeutic jurisprudence on questions of international human rights law and the role of forensic psychologists. Human rights are based on legal, social, and moral rules. The paper will propose that human rights principles can add to the normative base of therapeutic jurisprudence, and in turn, therapeutic jurisprudence can assist forensic psychologists to actively address human rights. As duty bearers, forensic psychologists need to address the core values of freedom and wellbeing in rights holders (in this instance, prisoners and detainees with a mental illness).

Keywords: International Human Rights law, therapeutic jurisprudence, forensic psychologists, prisoners & detainees, mental illness