“Doing Good” to “Make Good”: Community Theory for Practice in a Restorative Justice Civic Engagement Reentry Model.

Source: (2007) Journal of Offender Rehabilitation. 46(1/2):25-56.

This article discusses the civic engagement model of community service which is grounded in restorative justice principles focusing on both offender and community transformation. n general, offender reentry strategies have failed to consider the community either as a support, or obstacle to reintegration. With this said, a civic engagement model of community service provides an explicit means of engaging the community, while also building and restoring its capacity to allow offenders to take responsibility for their actions, reestablish trust, and build a new public image through service. This article argues for a new civic engagement model of reentry that seeks to engage both the community and offender side of the reintegration equation. The model moves beyond individually focused surveillance and services. Accompanied by a theory-driven evaluation protocol grounded in restorative justice principles and criminological theory at the individual, mid-range, and community level, the model is aimed at maximizing integrity of implementation in a variety of contexts. The civic engagement model features strategically designed civic community service as a primary intervention aimed at: reducing community barriers to the development of positive identities for formerly incarcerated persons; altering the community�s image of such persons; and mobilizing and/or building community capacity to provide informal support and assistance. (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov).