Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 6 th Chapter 22 The Community Justice Movement

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 6 th “community justice”  a model of justice that emphasizes reparation to the victim and the community, approaching crime from a problem-solving perspective, and citizen involvement in crime prevention definition

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 6 th community justice components a philosopy a strategy more ambitious than traditional view of criminal justice; concerned with quality of life in community community policing community justice environmental crime restorative justice

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 6 th “restorative justice”  system of justice that seeks to restore the victim, offender and the community to a level of functioning that existed prior to the criminal event; seeks to repair the damage done (to all parties) by the offender’s criminal act definition

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 6 th restorative justice approach typical programs  crime mapping  citizen advisory groups re: crime priorities  citizen partnerships with justice agencies  justice actors are organized locally to enable more effective strategy formation  citizens and victims involved in sentencing  broad use of offender community service

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 6 th distinguishing community justice from criminal justice focus is on restoration (not retribution) focus is on neighborhood (not legal jur.) focus is on problem-solving (not adversarial) distinguishin g features

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 6 th arguments FOR community justice  Crime and crime problems are local crime affects quality of life of the neighborhood; it is the neighborhood that is best positioned to and has the greatest stake in addressing crime  Crime fighting improves the quality of life effort is to break the grip that crime has on the community  Proactive is better than reactive strategies preventing crime is better than reacting to the damage it does to the victim and community

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 6 th arguments AGAINST community justice  it jeopardizes individual rights tendency toward vigilantism? equality before the law vs. different community approaches to crime control state’s role in criminal justice decreases  it exacerbates social inequality community resources & political influence vary communities with biggest need (worst crime problem) have fewest resources  it requires funds that are not available traditional criminal justice increasingly costly who pays for new focus? localities can’t afford must shift costs within existing budgets