The Community Justice Ideal

by Clear, Todd R.; Karp, David R.

• ISBN13: 9780813367651
• ISBN10: 0813367654
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: Westview Pr

Summary

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 broaden legal definitions of what constitutes crime, which has led to the incarceration, under harsher-than-ever conditions, of a record-high percentage of the U.S. population. Yet public confidence in the criminal justice apparatus is, if anything, lower than ever before, and fear of crime continues to be high.In recent years, some activists, scholars, criminal-justice officials, and politicians have begun to call for a reexamination of "get-tough" crime policies. A more sensible approach to crime, they argue, would focus on "community justice"--that is, on building healthy communities in which criminality cannot take root, and on making citizens and criminal-justice into partners rather than adversaries. In this thought-provoking study, Todd Clear and David Karp provide both a broad theoretical analysis of this ideal, and a close examination of a range of attempts to put it into practice in communities throughout the country. They conclude that by making the criminal justice system and the public into partners rather than adversaries, community-justice strategies for dealing with crime are both more effective and more resource-efficient than the failed "get-tough" approach.

Author Biography

Todd R. Clear is distinguished professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He has taught previously at Ball State University, Rutgers University, and Florida State University, and has served as a programming and policy consultant to public agencies in over forty states and five nations. His work has been recognized with awards from the Rockefeller School of Public Policy, the American Probation and Parole Association, and the International Association of Paroling Authorities.David R. Karp is assistant professor of sociology at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. His previous book, Community Justice: An Emerging Field, is a collection of several papers on community justice. Todd R. Clear is distinguished professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He has taught previously at Ball State University, Rutgers University, and Florida State University, and has served as a programming and policy consultant to public agencies in over forty states and five nations. His work has been recognized with awards from the Rockefeller School of Public Policy, the American Probation and Parole Association, and the International Association of Paroling Authorities.David R. Karp is assistant professor of sociology at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. His previous book, Community Justice: An Emerging Field, is a collection of several papers on community justice.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Illustrations	vii
Introduction	1	(1)
Community Justice: A Thought Experiment	2	(10)
Community Justice: Can It Work?	12	(3)
The Community Justice Movement	15	(22)
Recent Innovations	16	(8)
Elements of Community Justice	24	(8)
Questions About Community Justice	32	(5)
Crime, Community, and Criminal Justice	37	(22)
Community Context	40	(2)
Community Action	42	(2)
Quality of Community Life	44	(3)
Criminal Justice Response	47	(5)
Ways Out of the Cycle	52	(7)
A Positive View of Community Life	59	(24)
What Is Community?	59	(2)
Convergent and Divergent Experiences of Community	61	(2)
Contemporary Selves, Contemporary Society	63	(5)
Modern Justice and the Social Self	68	(7)
Community Mechanisms	75	(4)
The Adversarial Model and Community Ideals	79	(2)
Conclusion	81	(2)
Principles of a Democratic Community Justice	83	(24)
Crime: The Shattering of Community	84	(3)
Recovering Community	87	(1)
The Tasks of Parties to Criminal Incidents	88	(4)
The Role of the Justice System	92	(5)
The Justice System and the Offender	97	(3)
Risk and Community Justice	100	(4)
The Community Justice Process	104	(3)
Principles of Egalitarian Community Justice	107	(22)
Four Principles of Egalitarian Justice	108	(3)
Equality	111	(4)
Inclusion	115	(4)
Mutuality	119	(5)
Stewardship	124	(2)
Conclusion	126	(3)
Realizing Community Justice	129	(22)
Identifying Communities	130	(3)
Clarifying Legal Rights	133	(2)
Fostering Community Development	135	(2)
Monitoring and Supervising Offenders in the Community	137	(1)
Decentralizing Authority and Accountability	138	(3)
Mobilizing and Representing the Community	141	(3)
Funding New Practices	144	(2)
Defining Organizational Composition	146	(3)
Conclusion	149	(2)
Evaluating Community Justice Initiatives	151	(26)
Democratic Principles	152	(11)
Egalitarian Principles	163	(10)
Conclusion	173	(4)
References	177	(14)
Index	191