NCJ Number
175076
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 61 Issue: 2 Dated: June 1997 Pages: 25-37
Date Published
1997
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the involvement of citizens in the justice process through alternatives to adversarial, retributive justice focuses on family group conferences, circle sentencing, reparative probation, and victim-offender mediation and the role of the community, the enforcement of sanctions, and the involvement of victims in each process.
Abstract
These approaches are now being carried out with some regularity in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Europe. The four models share a nonadversarial, community-based sanctioning focus on cases in which offenders either admit guilt or have been found guilty of crimes or delinquent acts. However, they vary in their staffing, eligibility, and point in case processing in which referrals occur. Decision-making occurs by consensus in all models but the Vermont reparative boards, but the process and dispositional protocols range from ancient rituals involving passing of the talking stick or feather in the case of circle sentencing to the more deliberative agenda followed in the hearings of community boards. The way that a model defines community is a crucial factor affecting the nature and extent of citizen involvement and ownership. These models appear to have significant potential for changing the current dynamic, in which justice agencies regard the community as a passive participant. Issues that these programs need to address include evaluation, accountability, protection of victims' rights and needs, and the relationship of community justice decision-making models to the formal justice system. These new decision-making models specify new roles for victims, offenders, and communities. The models are in an early stage of development; comparative discussions are needed that increase understanding and avoid arbitrary and inappropriate use of generic terms. Charts, notes, and 50 references