Front-Stage Stars and Backstage Producers: The Role of Judges in Problem-Solving Courts

• NCJ Number: 242905
• Journal: Victims & Offenders Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: January - March 2013 Pages: 1-22
• Author(s): Shannon Portillo; Danielle S. Rudes; Jill Viglione; Matthew Nelson
• Date Published: January 2013
• Length: 22 pages
• Grant Number(s): U01-DA016213-07-A
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines the role of judges in problem-solving courts in the United States.

Abstract

In problem-solving courts judges are no longer neutral arbitrators in adversarial justice processes. Instead, judges directly engage with court participants. The movement toward problem-solving court models emerges from a collaborative therapeutic jurisprudence framework. While most scholars argue judges are the central courtroom actors within problem-solving courts, the authors found judges are the stars front-stage, but play a more supporting role backstage. The authors used Goffman's (1959) front-stage-backstage framework to analyze 350 hours of ethnographic fieldwork within five problem-solving courts. Problem-solving courts are collaborative organizations with shifting leadership, based on forum. Understanding how the roles of courtroom workgroup actors adapt under the new court model is foundational for effective implementation of these justice processes. Abstract published by arrangement with Taylor and Francis.