Restorative Community Justice in the United States: A New Paradigm.

Source: (1999) International Review of Victimology. 6(4): 265-277.

A notable trend in the United States has been an increasing focus on offender accountability and the empowerment of crime victims. The emergence of restorative/community justice provides a framework within which both objectives can be accomplished. The article presents examples of specific program initiatives and considers the legislative changes required at the State and local level to facilitate development and implementation of restorative/community justice programs. Restorative/community justice program elements include community policing, community prosecution and community courts. Three primary roles for victim service programs in the restorative/community justice model are to help victims and communities address the immediate and long-term trauma of victimization, to help victims and communities access and participate in opportunities to restore justice and to establish and maintain training and education programs for all agencies and members of the community on victim issues. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.