Compassionate Jurisprudence (CJ) is a paradigm that links humanistic, judge-centered practices with goal-focused strategies to promote accountability and change. CJ practices hold participants accountable and foster lasting change in court participants by creating an interpersonal atmosphere of acceptance, compassion, and hope. CJ implements judicial behavior to impact a participant’s willingness to change; strategically uses judicial behavior to achieve accountability, and improves the participant’s confidence and ability to influence factors within his or her control by getting to know and understand their backstories.