Community Justice

by Todd R. Clear

Part of the Wadsworth Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice series, this text is a formative work that discusses the concepts of community within the context of justice policy and programs. This philosophy ties together a number of influential changes in the the success of problem solving policing, the expansion of community courts, experiments in neighborhood probation, and the influence of restorative justice. Clear and Cadora analyze how these changes in the system are a dramatic shift that illuminates how concerns for social justice merge with criminal justice innovations to provide new solutions to many system ills under the banner of Community Justice.

Paperback

First published August 12, 2002

Reviews

[Eponine Romo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for a class. The concepts presented were important, but the structure of the book felt a bit... well... unstructured at times.
During the final chapter there seems to be new concepts introduced that aren't discussed through the rest of the book, which is a bit strange.

Overall not bad, but it could be organized better.

[Spicy T AKA Mr. Tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reviews different facets of the criminal justice system and offers some more empathetic, social justice community-based solutions (what the authors call "community justice" beyond the standard, punitive criminal justice system. The book is broken up into 5 chapters detailing how community justice is or would impact the current system: impact of community justice on communities; policing; courts; corrections; and the future. The authors emphasize the need to gather and evaluate evidence in order to determine effectiveness. Community justice alternatives also require the political will to make sure reforms occur. Again, this book is not calling for abolition. It's calling for a reformed system. (Another book from a CJ Master's class.) It's not a long book and fairly accessible.