NCJ Number
95276
Date Published
1981
Length
47 pages
Annotation
Self-help justice in three urban communities in the same large Eastern metropolitan area is examined.
Abstract
Johnson Square is a small, triangular community of three city blocks. The population is mostly working class and lower middle class. Here, self-help justice consists of a set of understandings among neighbors of what constitutes a legitimate dispute and how to deal with it, informal networks of residents who assist each other in choosing and implementing or mobilizing informal dispute resolution mechanisms, and a 'lore' about how people have solved their conflicts. Stratford Hills, a six-block community located not far from Johnson Square, does not appear to have any strong networks nor any active local organizations, such as planning teams or neighborhood councils. The majority of its residents are professional and managerial employees in a wide variety of enterprises. Whereas Johnson Square residents place emphasis on their goal of getting what residents place emphasis on their goal of getting what they are entitled to, Stanford Hills people talk about the importance of compromise. Cabot Place is a two-block section of a neighborhood of several thousand located in the center city metropolitan area. Its residents are diverse racially and ethnically, but there is a trend toward 'gentrification' of the neighborhood. Cabot Place is a highly organized community with strong networks of neighbors who are ready to take concerted action in conflicts with outsiders and among neighbors. Self-help justice in these three locations is pervasive and appears to be associated with neighborhood. Approximately 75 references are included.