Community Justice discusses concepts of community within the context of justice policy and programs, and addresses the important relationship between the criminal justice system and the community in the USA. Taking a bold stance in the criminal justice debate, this book argues that crime management is more effective through the use of informal (as opposed to formal) social control. It demonstrates how an increasing number of criminal justice elements are beginning to understand that the development of partnerships within the community that enhance informal social control will lead to a stabilization and possible a decline in crime, especially violent crime, and make communities more liveable. Borrowing from an eclectic toolbox of ideas and strategies - community organizing, environmental crime prevention, private-public partnerships, justice initiatives – Community Justice puts forward a new approach to establishing safe communities, and highlights the failure of the current American justice system in its lack of vision and misuse of resources. Providing detailed information about how community justice fits within each area of the criminal justice system, and including relevant case studies to exemplify this philosophy in action, this book is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of subjects such as criminology, law and sociology.

Past methods of probation and parole supervision have largely relied on caseworkers who monitor their "clients" as well as they can. But, as numbers of "clients" increase, studies indicate that this model is ineffectual. The time has come to significantly rethink the approaches to community supervision. As described in What Is Community Justice?, the aim of the new efforts is to explicitly integrate the community and the criminal justice process in probation programs. There are five key goals that this book addresses to achieve this end: The building of partnerships between community supervision agencies and the community Expanding the "client" definition to include the victim of crime, the family of the offender, and the community itself Focus on places: agencies must take into account important local differences in neighborhoods Preventing problems between the community and the client rather than reacting to them Adding value to community life This book addresses the specific ways of achieving these goals by presenting six case studies of probation programs that represent a practical side of the community justice ideal. What emerges is a provocative and enlightening new approach to the problems of probation and parole.

An anthology of original essays, this book presents debates over practice, theory, and implementation of restorative justice. Attention is focused on the movement’s direction toward a more holistic, community-oriented approach to criminal justice intervention. Discussion questions provoke thought, review and discussion.

This book examines the phenomenon of Community Justice Centres and their potential to transform the justice landscape by tackling the underlying causes of crime. Marred by recidivism, addiction, family violence, overflowing courtrooms, crippling prison spending and extreme rates of incarceration, the criminal justice system is in crisis. Community Justice Centres seek to combat this by tackling the underlying causes of crime in a particular neighbourhood and working with local people to redesign the experience of justice and enhance the notion of community. A Community Justice Centre houses a court which works with an interdisciplinary team to address the causes of criminality such as drug addiction, cognitive impairment, mental illness, poverty, abuse and intergenerational trauma. The community thus becomes a key agent of change, partnering with the Centre to tackle local issues and improve safety and community cohesion. This book, based on research into this innovative justice model, examines case studies from around the world, the challenges presented by the model and the potential for bringing its learnings into the mainstream. This book will appeal to academics in law and criminology as well as psychology; it will also be of considerable interest to people working in the criminal justice system, including the police, government policy advisers, psychologists and social workers.

Over the past quarter-century, U.S. politicians have responded to the public's fear of crime by devoting ever more resources to building and strengthening the criminal justice apparatus, which as a result has grown tremendously in size and cost. Policymakers have also taken steps to toughen procedures for dealing with suspects and criminals, and br

'An effective interweaving of complex theory with mainstream concepts. Overall an excellent book for use in Australian universities teaching criminology/social work.' Dr Jane Bolitho, Lecturer, Criminology and Social Sciences, UNSW The concept of community justice - of engaging with offenders within the community - offers an important new approach to the prevention of crime and the rehabilitation of offenders. Community Justice in Australia is the first text to consider how this concept can be successfully applied within Australia by social workers, criminologists, parole officers, police and anyone working with both adult and youth offenders. Brian Stout begins by defining community justice and outlining its successes in the United Kingdom and the United States. He then explains theories of offending behaviour, considers relevant Australian legislation, policy and common intervention strategies, and considers the implications of community justice approaches for both adult and juvenile offenders. Restorative justice is also examined and contrasted. The book's second half details practice issues including working in community justice organisations, the use of technology, and the need for community justice workers to co-create long-term change with their clients. The importance of risk management and protection of the public is explored together with a comprehensive guide to practice skills and working with involuntary clients. Each chapter also contains a detailed analysis of the implications and potential benefits of a community justice approach for culturally diverse groups and Indigenous people.

Although restorative justice is probably one of the most talked about topics in contemporary criminology, little has been written about how community involvement in restorative justice translates into practice. While advocates have presented the community as an essential pillar of restorative justice, the rationale for why and how this is the case remains underdeveloped and largely unchallenged. This book offers an empirical and theoretical explanation of what ‘community involvement’ means and what work it does in restorative justice. Drawing on an empirical case study and the wider sociological literature, The Role of Community in Restorative Justice examines the involvement of the community in one selected practice of restorative justice and also considers the implications of the English and Welsh experience for development of a more coherent framework for operationalizing community involvement in restorative justice practices. It is argued that restorative justice programmes need to start from a more concrete and up-to-date notion of community. While operationalizing community involvement, they need to acknowledge, all at once: the importance of place; the importance of family links, friendship and other social ties; and the importance of similar social traits and identities. This book is essential reading for students, researchers and academics in the fields of criminology, criminal justice, sociology, community studies, policy studies, social policy and socio-legal studies. This book will also be valuable reading for a variety of practitioners and policymakers, particularly working with restorative justice and youth justice.