From Compliance to Community: Therapeutic Communalism as a Transformative Framework for Campus Safety

Abstract

This theoretical paper presents Therapeutic Communalism as a transformative framework for addressing campus sexual harassment, positing it as a necessary evolution beyond bureaucratic, compliance-based institutional models. We argue that prevailing institutional responses to sexual violence constitute an administrative project focused on risk management and procedural adherence that often fails to address the relational and cultural roots of harm. Through critical analysis, we examine how formal reporting systems, policy frameworks, and investigatory committees function as administrative technologies that manage institutional liability while frequently depoliticizing embedded power structures. Within this context, Therapeutic Communalism emerges not as improved procedure but as a paradigm shift toward community ethics and alternative forms of accountability. We identify three paradigmatic shifts facilitated by this framework: (1) from bureaucratic discipline to community accountability practices; (2) from individualization (casting issues as problems of specific predators or victims) to collective responsibility frameworks that address systemic conditions; and (3) from security apparatuses to care networks. Drawing on principles of restorative justice and community psychology, we examine how Therapeutic Communalism addresses not only harassment but also the broader relational health of academic communities characterized by power imbalances and competitive individualism. Through analysis of community-based initiatives, we demonstrate how Therapeutic Communalism constitutes a meaningful alternative to the subject positions offered by administrative systems. The paper concludes that Therapeutic Communalism's potential lies in its capacity to synthesize relational ethics with practical accountability, offering pathways from managed compliance to cultivated community that challenge both bureaucratic alienation and ineffective governance models.