Pamela Flemming

Crime, Criminal Justice, & Communities

Dr. Jason Scott
Final Exam
1)
a. One limitation of traditional retributive justice is that victims needs are not met,
because the focus is on the offender. The role of victims and communities are
limited. Some victims and the community where the crime occurred would like input
on the outcome of prosecution, but are left out due to the roles of the state in
prosecuting a case. Often times, a victim is not included in the outcome. The
prosecutor usually makes the ultimate decisions of a case. Some prosecutors will
ask the victims opinion, but they do not have to abide by it. Some victims and
communities may not want an offender incarcerated, or even prosecuted for a
certain crime, they may feel like he or she could make amends for their actions in
other ways. But the final say is not up to them.
b. One aspect of restorative justice that addresses this problem is it includes the
victim, offender, community, and public officials in an informal setting. It allows the
victims voice to be heard. It allows for victim/offender mediation where the victim
gets an opportunity to express his/her feelings to the offender. With restorative
justice, the focus is on repairing the harm done to the victim. Restorative justice
also requires offender accountability, where the offender is exposed to the harm,
symbolically acknowledges the harm, and can follow-up by repairing the harm.
Restorative justice can also improve social bonds, as it integrates offenders back
into their communities. It also reinforces important sources of support. The offender
knows that the community disapproves of his or her behavior, but also supports him
or her in repairing the harm. Retributive justice isolates the offender by
incarceration, orders of protection, etc. Restorative justice allows healing.
Remember, restorative justice is defined as a value based approach to responding
to wrongdoing and conflict, with a balanced focus on the person harmed, the person
causing the harm, and the affected community.
The movie was an excellent example of how restorative justice can work. The
offender had committed a horrible crime (murder), but the victims family, specially
the mother, chose to forgive him, and embrace him as part of her family. This took a
tremendous amount of courage, and compassion from her to do so. The victims
mother forgave the offender for killing her son, and built up a relationship with him
through letters and visits. She did not request that he not be punished for what he
had done, she wanted him to become a better person because of it. Her son was
dead, but she wanted to save the offenders life by showing him there is a different
way to live. The church community also embraced the offender, because they were
affected by his actions too. He had done something that was contrary to the
teachings of the church, and was taken out of the church and the community as a
result. But, the church community wanted him to know that they forgave him, loved
him, and supported him.

2a)
The model of community justice I chose and think possesses the most potential is
the Partnership Model. I think this is the ideal model because various agencies work
in collaboration with each other, and with citizens of the community to identify
problem priorities and generate strategies to prevent crime. The agencies involved
are police, probation, social service, churches, schools, family services, mental
health agencies, and businesses. I like this concept because I believe a
neighborhood will function better if it had the help and support of these services.
What good is a neighborhood where its residents work together if it doesnt have
the support and resources of these agencies? To help with the homeless problem,
you need social service, and homeless shelters. Both agencies provide resources for
its clients. Social service can help a person find shelter, as well as refer to other
agencies, if needed. Social service agencies and probation can also assist with
housing, unemployment & job training, transportation (tokens), and other needed
services. Businesses can help by supplying jobs and financial resources. Police and
probation partnerships can help with offenders under supervision in the community.
Police, prosecution, and the courts can work together to increase the effectiveness
of public safety, by disposing of cases in a community quickly. Resident groups care
essential to community justice because they are the bridge to fill the gap between
residents and law enforcement. Law enforcement needs the aid of neighborhood
resident groups in order to build the trust of residents regarding community justice.
Most people dont believe that police want to help, so resident groups can be
beneficial in building confidence in the motives of criminal justice agencies as a
whole. I think the partnership model would work than the others in promoting
community justice because it encompasses everything that is needed for success.
Its like making a soup. You need money to purchase the ingredients (funding from
businesses and social service agencies), you need ingredients that are going to
blend in together, but also have dominant flavors (criminal justice agencies), you
need ingredients that enhance the flavors, but are neutral (resident groups), and
you need someone to serve it to (residents). This model has its negatives as well as
its positives, but I still think its an ideal model.
b)
A disorganized community is best suited to take advantage of the strengths of this
model. For example, low income, socially disadvantage neighborhoods that consist
of minority racial isolation, high concentrations of poverty, social dislocations such
as crime, public disorder, and poor health. Neighborhoods with high rates of
homelessness and inadequate housing, as well as high concentrations of residents
with minimal or no formal education, job skills, or job training (ex. Joseph Ave).