Book Review: What is Community Justice? Case Studies of Community and Restorative Justice.

by David R. Karp and Todd R. Clear.  2002. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 0761987460

Reviewed by Gregory Strong

According to the editors of this volume, new approaches to community supervision are emerging where the focus of supervision is not just on criminal justice but also on community justice. Such approaches are tailored to fit the particular needs of the communities they serve. Hence, they are designed not as mere programs for supervision of individuals on probation or parole, but as strategies for improving community life.

Each chapter in this book contains a case study of a community justice type of program in one part of the United States:

• Ventura County, California
• Maricopa County, Arizona
• Vermont
• Tallahassee, Florida
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Deschutes County, Oregon.

The case studies highlight real-world programs attempting to fulfill one or more core elements of the community justice model. At the beginning of the book the editors have written a valuable introduction to the community justice model of supervision, and there is a short concluding essay sketching some of the key challenges for this movement.

Chapter Summaries:

The Community Justice Frontier

Ventura County and the theory of Community Justice

Neighborhood Probation officers in Maricopa County, Arizona

The Offender/Community Encounter

Restorative Justice, Reparation and the Southside Project

Reinventing Probation and Reducing Youth Violence

Deschutes County Oregon: Community Justice in Action

Afterword: In the Shadows of Community Justice

November  2002