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Securing therapeutic justice through mediation: the challenge of medical treatment disputes

Lindsey, J., Doyle, M. and Wazynska-Finck, K. (2025) Securing therapeutic justice through mediation: the challenge of medical treatment disputes. Legal Studies: The Journal of the Society of Legal Scholars, 45 (1). pp. 40-57. ISSN 1748-121X

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To link to this item DOI: 10.1017/lst.2024.39

Abstract/Summary

This paper explores the use of mediation in medical treatment disputes through the lens of therapeutic justice (TJ), a concept developed in the 1990s to consider the therapeutic and anti-therapeutic effects of justice systems. The paper argues that mediation may be a mechanism for achieving therapeutic effects for people involved in medical treatment disputes. In doing so, the paper highlights the conflict that can often arise between healthcare professionals, family members and patients in medical treatment disputes and the related difficulties with using litigation to resolve this type of conflict. It has been suggested by judges, academics and policy-makers that mediation might be a better way of resolving conflict in these cases. While mediation and TJ have much in common, the paper explores the many tensions between them, considering ways in which mediation might need to be done differently to achieve therapeutic aims. Finally, the paper identifies six TJ features against which mediation can be tested to consider whether it can live up to the claims that it can be used to resolve medical treatment disputes more therapeutically.

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Law
ID Code:119464
Publisher:Cambridge University Press

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