Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T17:33:57.576Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

COMMUNITY-DRIVEN MODELS FOR SAFETY AND JUSTICE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2019

Leah Sakala  and
Nancy La Vigne
Leah Sakala*
Affiliation:
Justice Policy Center, Urban Institute
Nancy La Vigne
Affiliation:
Justice Policy Center, Urban Institute
*
*Corresponding author: Leah Sakala, Justice Policy Center, Urban Institute, 500 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Washington DC, 20024.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The U.S. criminal justice system is defined and fueled by foundations and principles that uphold harmful power dynamics such as white supremacy, further destabilizing communities that face intersecting structural barriers. This paternalistic system is characterized by the imposition of punishments—including fees, fines, penalties, and deprivation of freedom and even life—that are meted out disproportionally to people of color and people living in poverty. More often than not, policymakers and justice practitioners fail to solicit the views, experiences, and expertise of community members and justice system-involved individuals, leading to policies and practices crafted under the auspices of promoting safety that undermine community stability instead. Consistent with Square One ’s charge to “reimagine how we create justice,” this paper describes approaches that communities around the country employ to craft, lead, and participate in their own public safety strategies. The paper will offer examples of crime prevention work, investment and divestment efforts, and policy reform initiatives developed and guided by people most likely to experience crime and the heavy hammer of the traditional justice system. This paper will explore the promises, strengths, and challenges associated with each approach, presenting a range of creative strategies for residents—in partnership with the broader community of advocates, activists, and researchers—to adapt, own, and implement.

Keywords

Community organizingGrassroots LeadershipJustice ReformPublic Safety
Type
Guest Edited Dossier
Information
Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , Spring 2019 , pp. 253 - 266
Copyright
Copyright © Hutchins Center for African and African American Research 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

ACLU District of Columbia (2018). NEAR Act Stop and Frisk Data Collection. March 28. <http://lims.dccouncil.us/Download/34496/B21-0360-Amendment1.pdf/> (Accessed April 5, 2019).+(Accessed+April+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
Brown, Jeffrey (2015). How We Cut Youth Violence in Boston by 79 Percent. TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. <https://www.ted.com/talks/jeffrey_brown_how_we_cut_youth_violence_in_boston_by_79_percent/transcript> (Accessed April 5, 2019).Google Scholar
Christianson, Scott (1998). With Liberty for Some: 500 Years of Imprisonments in America. Boston: Northeastern University Press.Google Scholar
Clayton, Gina, Richardson, Endria, Mandlin, Lily, and Farr, Brittany (2018). Because She’s Powerful: The Political Isolation and Resistance of Women with Incarcerated Loved Ones. Los Angeles and Oakland, CA: Essie Justice Group. <https://www.becauseshespowerful.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Essie-Justice-Group_Because-Shes-Powerful-Report.pdf> (Accessed April 4, 2019).+(Accessed+April+4,+2019).>Google Scholar
Gotoff, Daniel, Lake, Celinda, and Teter, Corey (2017). Survey Findings on Community Investment. Washington, DC: Lake Research Partners, December 11. <https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/polling_memo.pdf> (Accessed April 4, 2019).+(Accessed+April+4,+2019).>Google Scholar
Harvell, Samantha, Welsh-Loveman, Jeremy, Love, Hanna, Durnan, Julia, Eisenstat, Josh, Golian, Laura, Mohr, Eddie, Pelletier, Elizabeth, Samuels, Julie, Thomson, Chelsea, Ulle, Margaret, and La Vigne, Nancy (2016). Reforming Sentencing and Corrections Policy: The Experience of Justice Reinvestment Initiative States. Washington, DC: Urban Institute. <https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/86691/reforming_sentencing_and_corrections_policy_3.pdf> (Accessed April 5, 2019).+(Accessed+April+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
Harvell, Samantha, Warnberg, Chloe, Sakala, Leah, and Hull, Constance (2019). Promoting a New Direction for Youth Justice: Strategies to Fund a Community-Based Continuum of Care and Opportunity. Washington DC: Urban Institute. <https://www.urban.org/research/publication/promoting-new-direction-youth-justice-strategies-fund-community-based-continuum-care-and-opportunity> (Accessed April 4, 2019).+(Accessed+April+4,+2019).>Google Scholar
Jannetta, Jesse, Travis, Jeremy, and McCoy, Evelyn F. (2018). Participatory Justice. U.S. Partnership on Mobility from Poverty. Washington DC: Urban Institute. <https://www.mobilitypartnership.org/participatory-justice> (Accessed April 5, 2019).+(Accessed+April+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
Jayadev, Raj (2019). “Participatory Defense”: Transforming the Courts Through Family and Community Organizing. San Jose, CA: Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project. <https://acjusticeproject.org/about/purpose-and-practice/> (Accessed April 4, 2019).+(Accessed+April+4,+2019).>Google Scholar
Karp, David R., and Clear, Todd R. (2000). Community Justice: A Conceptual Framework. In Boundary Changes in Criminal Justice Organizations, pp. 323–368. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. <https://www.ncjrs.gov/criminal_justice2000/vol2_2000.html> (Accessed April 5, 2019).Google Scholar
Leff, S. S., Thomas, D. E., Vaughn, N. A., Thomas, N. A., MacEvoy, J. P., Freedman, M. A., Abdul-Kabir, S., Woodlock, J., Guerra, T., Bradshaw, A. S., Woodburn, E. M., Meyers, R. K., Fein, J. A. (2010). Using Community-based Participatory Research to Develop the PARTNERS Youth Violence Prevention Program. Progress in Community Health Partnerships, 4(3): 207–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manasseh, Tamar (2017). We Are Reclaiming Chicago One Corner at a Time. The New York Times, October 22. <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/22/opinion/chicago-gangs-crime-mothers.html> (Accessed April 5, 2019).Google Scholar
Minkler, Meredith, Garcia, Analilia P., Rubin, Victor, and Wallerstein, Nina (2012). Community-Based Participatory Research: A Strategy for Building Healthy Communities and Promoting Health through Policy Change. Berkeley, CA: University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. <http://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/CBPR.pdf> (Accessed April 5, 2019).+(Accessed+April+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
Muhammad, David (2018). Local Restorative Justice Could Be Best Kind of Diversion for Youth. Washington, DC: Justice Policy Institute, February 14. <http://www.justicepolicy.org/news/12002> (Accessed April 5, 2019).+(Accessed+April+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
Murray, Brittany, Falkenburger, Elsa, and Saxena, Priya (2015). Data Walks: An Innovative Way to Share Data with Communities. Washington DC: Urban Institute, November 10. <https://www.urban.org/research/publication/data-walks-innovative-way-share-data-communities> (Accessed April 5, 2019).+(Accessed+April+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
National Institute of Corrections (NIC) (2007). Transitioning from Jail to Community: Online Learning Toolkit. Washington, DC. <http://tjctoolkit.urban.org/> (Accessed April 5, 2019).+(Accessed+April+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) (2018). Catalyzing Community Criminal Justice Reform with Data. <https://www.neighborhoodindicators.org/activities/projects/catalyzing-community-criminal-justice-reform-data> (Accessed April 5, 2019).+(Accessed+April+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
Pickens, Jeffrey (2011). Community Based Participatory Research on Youth Violence Prevention. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Vol. 3 No. 3, Fall 2011, 9–23. ISSN 1947-2900. <http://www.jmrpublication.org/portals/jmr/Issues/JMR3-3.pdf/> (Accessed April 4, 2019).Google Scholar
Sakala, Leah, Harvell, Samantha, and Thomson, Chelsea (2018). Public Investment in Community: Driven Safety Initiatives. Landscape Study and Key Considerations. Washington, DC: Urban Institute. <https://www.urban.org/research/publication/public-investment-community-driven-safety-initiatives> (Accessed April 5, 2019).+(Accessed+April+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
Treskon, Mark, Esthappan, Sino, Okeke, Cameron, and Vásquez-Noriega, Carla (2018). Creative Placemaking and Community Safety: Synthesizing Cross-Cutting Themes. Washington DC: Urban Institute, September 25. <https://www.urban.org/research/publication/creative-placemaking-and-community-safety-synthesizing-cross-cutting-themes> (Accessed April 4, 2019).+(Accessed+April+4,+2019).>Google Scholar
Urban Institute (2018). Prison Population Forecaster. Washington, DC. <https://apps.urban.org/features/prison-population-forecaster/> (Accessed April 5, 2019).+(Accessed+April+5,+2019).>Google Scholar
Wo, James C. (2014). Community Context of Crime: A Longitudinal Examination of the Effects of Local Institutions on Neighborhood Crime. Crime & Delinquency, 62(10): 1286–1312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar