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1
CHAPTER 22
Community Justice
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define community justice and show how it differs from criminal justice.
3. Describe the problems that community justice faces.
4. Explore the future prospects of community justice.
LESSON PLAN
Correlated to PowerPoints
I. The Need for a New Approach
A. The growth of the penal system is not random. It has been concentrated among four
groups, according to the following characteristics:
2. Race/ethnicity: Two-thirds of those under correctional control are minorities.
4. Socioeconomic status: The penal population is dominated by poor people, the
frequently unemployed, and those who have little education and few skills.
B. These characteristics result in an important spatial dynamic in the correctional system.
Most of the people who cycle through the system come from a limited number of
impoverished communities. This phenomenon is known as spatial concentration.
Class Discussion/Activity
Have students conduct demographic research so as to identify the neighborhoods in your city or
county that fit the profile discussed in the chapter. Then have students research correctional data
to ascertain if indeed a disproportionate number of people in the system come from the
neighborhoods they have identified.
II. Definition of Community Justice
Learning Objective 1: Define community justice and show how it differs from criminal justice.
A. The concept of community justice is a new idea that has gathered considerable support
among practitioners and policy makers.
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1. As a philosophy, community justice recognizes that crime and the problems
that result from it greatly impede the quality of community life.
2. Not only does it respond to crime with traditional means but it also sets as a
3. This refers to a sense of mutual trust among the neighbors and a willingness to
intervene on behalf of the common good.
Media Tool
Visit http://www.voma.org/
o Offender Victim Mediation Programs
o Discuss this in class. What good, if any, do students feel that offender victim mediation
programs do? Have they accomplished what they set out to accomplish? Why or why
not?
D. A Strategy of Justice: The strategy of community justice combines three contemporary
justice innovations, each part a promising approach to preventing crime and reviving
community safety.
1. Community Policing
a. It employs problem-solving strategies to identify ways to prevent crimes
2. Environmental Crime Prevention
a. This approach begins with an analysis of why crime tends to
3. Restorative Justice
a. The restorative justice approach to sanctioning seeks to restore the
victim, the lawbreaker, and the community to a level of functioning that
existed prior to the criminal event.
b. The approach calls for individuals to admit what they have done and
take steps to make restitution.
What If Scenario
What if you were able to advocate and choose one major strategy discussed in this chapter that
would assist the justice system in deterring crime? Which strategy would you choose and why?
Chapter 22: Community Justice
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E. Justice Programs
1. Community justice is concerned with taking seriously the problems faced by
2. Programs of community justice are varied. They can include the following:
a. Crime mapping
b. Citizen advisory boards and partnerships
c. Local agency involvement in developing local strategies to prevent
crime
d. Citizen and victim involvement in sentencing
Class Discussion/Activity
Have students locate a justice reinvestment project on the internet or in their local community.
Have students write a research paper on this and give a presentation to the class.
III. How Community Justice Differs from Criminal Justice
A. Community justice differs from traditional criminal justice in four ways.
B. Neighborhoods
C. Problem Solving
D. Restoration
E. Justice Reinvestment
F. Overview of Differences
2. Problem solving
4. Justice reinvestment
Instructor’s Manual
4
Media Tool
Visit https://pathssk.org/cpav/
o Community Partnership Against Violence
o Discuss this in class. Do students feel as though the Community Partnership Against
Violence is an effective body? What could be done better within this program? Have
students brainstorm in class.
Class Discussion/Activity
Have students conduct research on youth who have absent parents based on incarceration. Go to
youth.gov (http://youth.gov/topic/children-incarcerated-parents), an organization composed of
representatives from 20 federal agencies that support programs and services focusing on youth.
Have students send questions to the organization to determine the effects of incarceration on the
children.
What If Scenario
What if you were asked to design a restorative justice program for youth in your communities?
What would be the key elements of your program?
See Assignment 1
III. Arguments for Community Justice
Learning Objective 2: Identify the arguments in favor of community justice.
A. Crime and Crime Problems Are Local
B. Crime Fighting Too Often Damages the Quality of Life
C. Proactive Rather Than Reactive Strategies Are Needed
1. Restorative justice is proactive and seeks to present crimes from occurring in
Media Tool
Visit http://www.ncpc.org/programs/teens-crime-and-the-community/about-tcc/community-
works
o Community Works at National Crime Prevention Council
o Discuss this in class. Is this organization effectively reaching its target? What could be
done, if anything, to grow it? Ask students how they would go about making it different
or larger, and why.
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Chapter 22: Community Justice
5
What If Scenario
What if you could run or even create a nonprofit organization that made a significant impact on
community justice? Which organization would you want to run and/or advocate for and why?
See Assignments 1, 4, and 5
IV. Problems of Community Justice
Learning Objective 3: Describe the problems that community justice faces.
A. Impingement on Individual Rights
B. Social Inequality
C. Increasing Criminal Justice Costs
1. We spend nearly $100 billion in the criminal justice system every year;
community justice calls for justice organizations to augment current services.
Class Discussion/Activity
Break students into two groups: one in favor of community justice and the other opposed. Allow
for an open debate in class between the two groups.
What If Scenario
What if you were asked to identify the areas in your community that, if improved, might
decrease crime? What would you direct attention toward?
V. The Future of Community Justice
Learning Objective 4: Explore the future prospects of community justice.
A. Community justice has proven very popular, but the important question of any new
idea in correctional work is whether it has staying power.
See Assignment 3
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Instructor’s Manual
LECTURE NOTES
To introduce “community justice,” it is useful to first paint a picture of the current correctional
landscape. Chapter 22 begins by reiterating a key issue in American corrections: Nowhere in the
world and at no point in history has there been anything equal to this nation’s current massive
system of punishment. It is imperative that students understand that. Furthermore, students ought
to know that the system’s growth is not random. When reviewing this material, be sure to stress
Stress that “community justice” is not a particular practice but rather a philosophy of justice, a
strategy of justice, and a series of justice programs. This may be challenging for students to
absorb, as we are accustomed to very concrete practices when it comes to matters of criminal
justice. It may be constructive to dissect each of the three components. Review examples of
community justice with the class, and explore the philosophy, the strategies, and the program
aspects of each example.
The authors highlight four ways in which community justice differs from traditional criminal
justice. Students should be familiar with each dissimilarity. Have students discuss or debate
Community justice may be a new idea to your students, one they might be skeptical about. It
may be useful to illustrate public support for community justice. You could bring in a speaker.
Review the arguments in support of community justice that are highlighted in the chapter. Ask
students if they think these are compelling. Ask students if they can think of any other reasons to
champion community justice.
Often when people imagine changing our current criminal justice system, they think that we
must first uncover a perfect solution. Help students to understand that we need only do better
than we are already doing. They should recognize that no practice or justice approach would be
Begin a conversation as to the likely correctional landscape of the future. What do students
imagine the future holds? Do they envision community justice as part of the repertoire?
Chapter 22: Community Justice
KEY TERMS
Spatial concentration
A phenomenon of criminal justice in which certain neighborhoods have very high numbers of
arrests and of people going to prison.
Collective efficacy
Justice reinvestment
A strategy to redirect funds currently spent on prisons to community public safety projects.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Assign students to research the Bridges to Life program (www.bridgestolife.org). Have
students describe the program. Why was it developed? What does it seek to do? What do
2. Have students research restorative justice programs in your local area and describe the
3. Provide students with various community-based initiatives for the management of
4. Refer students to the Community Justice for Youth Institute’s (CJYI’s) website
(http://cjyi.org ), particularly the section on schools. What common approach to school
5. Have students conduct research on nonprofit organizations that advocate for community
justice and exist throughout the United States. Ask each student to write a summary on
the organization as well as present the information to the class to make more students
Instructor’s Manual
ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Although the answers provided below will vary from student to student, the responses should
include at a minimum a discussion of the following key points.
1. Would you rather live in a place that practiced traditional criminal justice or in one that
practiced community justice?
2. Why do you think that the community justice movement is so popular? Will it last, or will it
soon be over? Why?
3. What impediments block greater cooperation among correctional agencies, such as probation,
and other government services, such as the police or social welfare? How can these
impediments be overcome?
4. Do you think that citizens want to get involved in their own crime-prevention problems? Why
or why not?
