Therapeutic justice in an Argentine drug treatment court

Guest blog from Argentine Judge María Jimena Monsalve

Judge Monsalve, a national criminal enforcement judge, recently met with the Council while on a knowledge exchange programme in the UK. 

She writes: “The approach of therapeutic justice focusses on the effects of the legal system on people's behaviour, emotions, and mental health. It is a holistic approach that aims to ease the trauma caused by the legal process and improve the emotional well-being of the participants, with the end result of reducing reoffending. 

This form of justice is about showing empathy for the participant and their situation. If you look at the background of those in the penal system in my country, the statistics are stark:

• 38.8% come from homes with violence
• 58.6% had friends engaged in criminal activity at the time of arrest
• 37.5% had family members in prison
• 55.2% reported gang presence in their neighbourhood
• 33.2% had left their homes at an early age
• 32.6% had consumed drugs or alcohol within 6 hours before committing the crime
• 40.1% carried a weapon
• 56.6% understood little or nothing of what happened during their trial.

A traditional legal system can set up failure in a number of ways. Offenders can fail to comply with rules and relapse into crime, sometimes because they simply do not have the support to succeed. This means the failure is partly that of the judge who has imposed a sentence which sets the offender up to fail. 

Helping people into a better life involves the investment in programmes required to meet their needs. In Argentina, the ministry of justice issued a resolution that "promotes the early identification of drug users and offers them immediate access to treatment under the supervision of a judge as a therapeutic agent and commits to finding a solution to the underlying conflict”. The aims are simple: to reduce drug taking; to avoid relapse into crime; and to integrate the person into society. 

My Drug Treatment Court has five phases: mental health and diagnostic screening, admission meeting, follow-up meetings, recognition, and exit. The strategy integrates the elements of clinical care and facilitates links with treatment and social integration services according to the particular needs of the individual.

Not everyone is suited for the programme and many will not pass the initial screening. However the results show that those who do, tend to succeed. The meetings are supportive rather than adversarial and involve an interdisciplinary approach. This includes drug treatment programmes, family and community based support networks, and social integration services. The meetings are held approximately every two weeks in addition to therapeutic sessions and court appearances, and run for between 14 to 18 months. 

A key factor in my approach to this Court is my relationship with the participant. I don’t just see them as someone to sentence, but as someone to support. I show them that I care so that they will care about changing their behaviour. A key principle to the work is what is called frequent minor recognitions. The ideal ratio is 4:1 and these can be recognition of anything at all, for example simply making a meeting rather than failing to attend. 

Another key to success is pre-trial meetings held with the court judges and relevant support staff to ensure that each team member is taken into consideration when important decisions are made in a case. But for this approach to succeed, it cannot just be about the justice system. It requires the collaboration of society. We need people to integrate into the community and for those in the community to play their role, and to be supportive as well.

There are, of course, challenges. There is resistance to change by judges who are entrenched in the popular call for punishment, and the limitations of a lack of budget and resources. But the way forward is through input from professionals, public health and education and through the development of social programmes. To date, the success for us looks very promising. So far we have managed our work within our budgets, and our programmes have delivered reduced reoffending rates. There can be no better measure of success than that.”

Judge Monsalve is both President of the Argentine Association of Criminal Enforcement Justice, and Second Vice-president of the Argentine Association of Therapeutic Justice.