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The Role and Attitudes of Restorative Board Members: A Case Study of Volunteers in Community JusticeDepartment of Sociology, Skidmore College
Community Justice Institute, Florida Atlantic University
College of Social Work, University of Kentucky Criminal justice agencies often call for partnerships with the community. In restorative and community justice initiatives, citizen volunteers often serve as decision makers in nonadversarial sanctioning. Although prior research has reported the attitudes of other participants in restorative decision making, such as victims and offenders, none have examined those of community volunteers. We report on findings from a state-wide survey of volunteers serving on Vermont Reparative Probation Boards. In this program, board members meet with probationers to negotiate a "reparative contract" that may include apologies, restitution, community service, and other tasks. We found a board membership that is generally representative of the community, highly supportive of the program, and knowledgeable of restorative justice principles.
Key Words: restorative justice community justice accountability boards voluntarism reparative probation Vermont Department of Corrections
Crime & Delinquency, Vol. 50, No. 4,
487-515 (2004) |
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