Crime and Place: Plenary Papers of the 1997 Conference on Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 168618
• Author(s): R B Taylor; G Basemore; B Boland; T E Clear; R P Corbett Jr; J Feinblatt; G Berman; M Sviridoff; C Stone
• Date Published: July 1998
• Length: 105 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

In focusing on "crime and place," six research papers revisit at the microlevel the locations where crime is committed and at the macrolevel community involvement with criminal justice agencies in addressing crime.

Abstract

The first paper examines results from a small number of interventions designed to reduce crime, disorder, or both in specific places with high crime rates. These efforts showed some success in reducing crime or disorder at specific sites, but they also showed stronger effects on some crimes than others and greater reductions in disorder than crime. The second paper evaluates community youth sanctioning models (family group conferencing, community boards, "circle" sentencing, and victim- offender mediation). The third paper chronicles the genesis, activities, and evolution of the community prosecution experiment in the Manhattan District Attorney's office that now addresses both quality-of-life crime and serious crime. These efforts have resulted in the emergence of an organizational capacity to respond to neighborhood crime problems that are not readily ameliorated by the traditional case-by-case, arrest-convict process. The fourth paper describes a vision for community corrections that gives a deeper meaning to the term "community." It envisions a community corrections strategy that not only is connected to individuals and groups at the community level, but that also defines its functions by their relevance to local community life. The two remaining papers assess neighborhood justice at the Midtown Community Court and the lessons of neighborhood-focused public defense. Notes, references, and exhibits accompany the papers.