“Incorporating Restorative and Community Justice Into American Sentencing and Corrections.”

Source: (1999) Sentencing and Corrections: Issues for the 21st Century, No. 3., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.

Kurki addresses the fact that RJ and CJ are diametrically opposed systems in philosophies, methods and goals. She identifies the conflicts between the two practices and addresses “howâ€? – and even whether it’s possible – to incorporate or reconcile RJ practices with the existing criminal justice system. Problems include: current lack of systematic data on RJ practices and outcomes; no consensus on how to measure “successâ€?; and the bulk of RJ writing covers its philosophy, not implementation. Further, if adopted by the CJ community, RJ risks being corrupted to another bureaucratic approach instead of a community practice. But without systemwide implementation, responses to crime will be inconsistent, especially where socio-economic factors influence practice and implementation. These are all issues that must be faced.