Collective efficacy and restorative justice as a crime prevention strategy

Collective efficacy and restorative justice as a crime prevention

strategy

Frederick P. Roth, PhD.Frederick P. Roth, PhD.Department of Sociology and AnthropologyDepartment of Sociology and Anthropology

Marshall UniversityMarshall UniversityHuntington, WVHuntington, WV

Restorative Justice Restorative Justice PrinciplesPrinciples

1.) Crime is fundamentally about harm. 1.) Crime is fundamentally about harm. Therefore, justice requires healing or repair of Therefore, justice requires healing or repair of all parties involved. all parties involved.

2.) Healing or repair cannot be achieved in the 2.) Healing or repair cannot be achieved in the absence of input from those most affected by absence of input from those most affected by crime. Victims, offenders, and community crime. Victims, offenders, and community members must be provided with opportunities members must be provided with opportunities for input and participation in the justice process for input and participation in the justice process as early and as often as possible.as early and as often as possible.

3.) Repairing harm requires that the formal 3.) Repairing harm requires that the formal justice system relinquish its role and move justice system relinquish its role and move toward a more facilitative one, based on problem toward a more facilitative one, based on problem solving and capacity building.solving and capacity building.

Definition of a Restorative Definition of a Restorative Justice ProgramJustice Program

““A restorative justice program is a program that A restorative justice program is a program that provides forums where certain individuals charged provides forums where certain individuals charged with or petitioned for having committed an offense with or petitioned for having committed an offense meet with the victim, if appropriate; the victim’s family meet with the victim, if appropriate; the victim’s family members or other supportive persons, if appropriate; members or other supportive persons, if appropriate; the offender’s family members or other supportive the offender’s family members or other supportive persons, if appropriate; a law enforcement official or persons, if appropriate; a law enforcement official or prosecutor when appropriate; other criminal justice prosecutor when appropriate; other criminal justice professionals when appropriate; and members of the professionals when appropriate; and members of the community in order to (1) discuss the impact of the community in order to (1) discuss the impact of the offense on the victim and the community; (2) provide offense on the victim and the community; (2) provide support to the victim and methods for reintegrating the support to the victim and methods for reintegrating the victim into community life; (3) assign an appropriate victim into community life; (3) assign an appropriate sanction to the offender; and (4) provide methods for sanction to the offender; and (4) provide methods for reintegrating the offender into community life.” reintegrating the offender into community life.”

Source: State of Minnesota, M.S. 611A. 775

Current Criminal Justice Current Criminal Justice ProcessProcess

Community interests

Offender interestsVictim interests

Community

Victim Offender

Restorative Justice Process

Victim-Offender Mediation Victim-Offender Mediation (VOM)(VOM)

Family-Group Conferencing Family-Group Conferencing (FGC)(FGC)

Circle Sentencing (CS)Circle Sentencing (CS)

Community Reparative Boards Community Reparative Boards (CRB)(CRB)

““The agreement reached by the group was The agreement reached by the group was fair to me.”fair to me.”

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

StronglyAgree

Agree Disagree StronglyDisagree

Don'tKnow

Victim (n=275)

Offender (n=1,627)

Community Participant(n=1,774)

Source: Minnesota Department of Corrections (August 2008). Restorative Justice Program Evaluation, Fiscal Years 2004-2007.

““The agreement reached by the group was The agreement reached by the group was fair to the offender/victim/all parties.”fair to the offender/victim/all parties.”

0%10%

20%30%

40%50%

60%70%

80%90%

100%

StronglyAgree

Agree Disagree StronglyDisagree

Don'tKnow

Victim (n=271)

Offender (n=1618)

Community Participant(n=1775)


““Overall, how satisfied are you with the Overall, how satisfied are you with the outcome of the circle/panel/conference outcome of the circle/panel/conference

process?”process?”

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Very Satisfied Satisfied Dissatisfied VeryDissatisfied

Don't Know

Victim (n=71)

Offender (n=401)

Community Participant (n=640)


““Do you feel that the offender/all Do you feel that the offender/all parties fulfilled their obligations as parties fulfilled their obligations as

stated in the agreement?”stated in the agreement?”

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Yes No

Victim (n=66)

Offender (n=397)



““Would you recommend this program to Would you recommend this program to other people in your community who have other people in your community who have experienced this type of crime/are in your experienced this type of crime/are in your

position/are in your community?”position/are in your community?”

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Yes No

Victim (n=66)

Offender (n=397)



Re-arrest Rates at 6 and 12 Re-arrest Rates at 6 and 12 MonthsMonths

Note: A p Value of ≤ indicates that chi-square is statistically significant meaning that the difference between the treatment and control groups was greater than that expected to be produced by chance.

* The smaller sample size reflect the fact that at the time of the analysis, Not all of the study group youth had reached the 6- and 12- month followup stages.

Source: McGarrell, Edmund F. (2001). Restorative Justice Conferences as an Early Response to Young Offenders. Juvenile Justice Bulletin (August). Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (U.S. Department of Justice)

Community

Victim Offender

Restorative Justice Process

Models and Objectives in Restorative Models and Objectives in Restorative ConferencingConferencing

ObjectivObjectiveses

Circle Circle SentencinSentencingg

Family Family group group ConferencConferencinging

CommunitCommunity y ReparativReparative Boardse Boards

Victim-Victim-Offender Offender MediationMediation

Ensure Ensure Victim Victim RestorationRestoration

II HI-IHI-I II HIHI

Shame Shame OffenderOffender

NANA HIHI NA-SINA-SI NA-SINA-SI

Involve Involve CitizensCitizens

HIHI I-HII-HI HIHI NA-SINA-SI

Meet Meet Victim’s Victim’s NeedsNeeds

I-SII-SI SI-ISI-I SI-ISI-I HIHI

Involve Involve VictimVictim

SI-ISI-I II NA-SINA-SI HIHI

Empower Empower CommunityCommunity

HIHI NA-SINA-SI HIHI NANAKey: HI- Highly Important SI- Somewhat Important I- Important NA- Not ApplicableSource: Adapted From Bazemore G.(1997). The “community” in community justice. Justice System Journal 19 (2):193-228

Collective Efficacy: DefinedCollective Efficacy: Defined

““The mutual trust among neighbors The mutual trust among neighbors combined with the willingness to combined with the willingness to intervene on behalf of the common intervene on behalf of the common good, specifically to supervise good, specifically to supervise children and maintain public order.”children and maintain public order.”

Source: Sampson, Robert J., Steven W. Raudenbush and Felton Earls (1997). “Neighborhoods and violent crime: a multilevel study of collective efficacy.” Science 277:1-7

Collective Efficacy: A ModelCollective Efficacy: A Model

1.) Trust and Cohesion: A community’s collective efficacy exists relative to its specific task of maintaining public order: shared expectations and mutual engagement by residents helps to construct neighborhood social control.

2.) Strong Ties: Connections to multiple and various others constructs strong reciprocal linkages (e.g., friends, relatives, neighbors)

3.) Weak Ties: Multiple, diverse, dense, social networks that communities draw upon for resources and information (e.g., schools, workplace, community organizations)

4.) Organizational Capacity: An institutional component which includes the resource stock of community organizations and their links with other organizations and with residents.

Restorative Justice is Restorative Justice is based on a simple based on a simple truth: a harm to one truth: a harm to one is a harm to all.is a harm to all.

Collective efficacy and restorative justice as a crime prevention strategy

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