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In the contexts in which abuses occur at the collective level, there is normally a
climate of impunity that protects those who commit acts of violence. In addition,
dominant groups devote themselves to ignoring or silencing the injustice and
suffering produced because their admission is perceived as too dangerous or
destabilizing. As regards the events that occurred during the Genoa G8 Summit,
with the exception of some sporadic initiatives, the trial was the only public meeting
space, an instrument through which it was possible to break the “wall of silence”
built around the events. Only in the courtroom has a comparison and an assessment
of what really happened been possible, providing detailed documentation of what
happened inside the prison and acknowledging the truth about the abuses. This trial
has exceeded its traditional mandate with respect to victims' sociopsychological
needs. In fact, in highlighting abuses and violent acts, justice has taken a leading
role in the healing process for victims of the violence.
10.6
Implications of the Findings: Therapeutic
Jurisprudence and Victims of State Violence
Therapeutic jurisprudence - the role of the law as a therapeutic agent - focuses
on how the law can facilitate achieving psychological well-being. From this
perspective, legal rules and procedures and the roles of legal actors (such as lawyers
and judges) constitute social forces that, whether intentional or not, can produce
therapeutic or antitherapeutic consequences (Petrucci et al. 2003 ). Therapeutic
jurisprudence seeks to utilize psychological and social science research to explore
these questions empirically. Although therapeutic jurisprudence has been criticized
for not offering a clear and limited definition of the term therapeutic (Melton 1994 ),
the decision not to offer a narrow definition of therapeutic enables researchers to use
a wide range of concepts that characterize individual and social well-being. Thus,
what is meant by therapeutic far exceeds the opposite of ill health.
Therapeutic jurisprudence, which began in the late 1980s and grew to become a
truly interdisciplinary enterprise, is consonant with restorative justice (Braithwaite
2002 ; Scheff 1998 ), community justice (Bazemore and Schiff 2001 ), social justice
(Montada and Lerner 1996 ), and procedural justice (Thibaut and Walker 1978 ;
Tyler 1992 ). Therapeutic jurisprudence emphasizes the importance of how victims
perceive the legal process, allowing a merging with victimology research (Wright
1996 ), and pays attention to how the legal system responds to victims (Wexler 1990 ).
Therapeutic jurisprudence also emphasizes the importance of empowering citizens
to tell their story in an environment that supports dignity, trust, and respect. A key
feature of therapeutic jurisprudence is that it provides an invitation to consider the
legal process from a multitude of perspectives that are often overlooked. In many
cases, this means considering those who previously had no voice, such as victims of
domestic violence (Winick 2000 ).
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