NCJ Number
158536
Date Published
1995
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This monograph presents a theoretical description of restorative community justice (RCJ), contrasting its concepts to those of other criminal justice models.
Abstract
Five RCJ principles are identified: (1) criminal justice must consider the needs of both offenders and victims; (2) while government must establish criminal laws that identify behavior standards for society, communities should be the locus of implementing those standards; (3) communities can deal best with community problems; (4) offenders and victims need to establish harmonious relationships with communities; and (5) all citizens, individually and collectively, are responsible for peace and justice. The RCJ approach is based on offender accountability and victim responsibilities. RCJ program elements include community policing, community prosecution, community courts, and community corrections. Policy initiatives related to RCJ are considered, and a community policing/problem-solving action plan devised for one community is appended.