Respect as a Component in the Judge-Defendant Interaction in a Specialized Domestic Violence Court that Utilizes Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Abstract

Specialized courts and therapeutic jurisprudence both share an emphasis on the judge-defendant interaction. What a judge says, how he or she says it, and how defendants respond, may prove to be a key factor affecting outcomes within the specialized court process. Research has yet to carefully describe this judge-defendant interaction. Using participant observation, transcripts of judicial monitoring sessions, and judge and defendant interviews, this article analyzes one judge's use of therapeutic jurisprudence in judicial monitoring sessions in a specialized domestic violence court. The findings highlight seven key areas that describe progress report hearings: general characteristics, the process, general content, specific content, the judicial role and approach, defendants' perceptions of the judge, and the demeanor of the judge and the defendant. Taken together, these components exhibit a relationship depicted by a process of shared respect between the judge and defendant that may be a key factor in defendant compliance.

Keywords: therapeutic jurisprudence, judge-defendant interaction, respect, qualitative study

JEL Classification: K4, K14, K40