Nathan Monk

This paper reports findings from a survey of 145 crime victims in West Yorkshire, designed to assess the physical and emotional impact of victimisation. This paper will note the wide and far-reaching impact of crime victimisation, affecting all aspects of daily life. All participants reported some effects after victimisation. Some groups suffered to a greater extent than others. Very few participants received any support from outside their immediate family or friends. They commonly complained of lack of personal contact with the police, and lack of advice and information. The majority of participants thought that receiving an apology or meeting with the offender would not be helpful. They favoured remedies through the criminal justice system. The implications for the treatment of victims within the criminal justice system and the introduction of restorative models that attempt to engage the victim in the process are discussed.

‘What Works’ initiatives have led to fears that the role of probation officers will be reduced to that of competent functionaries rather than skilled experts in criminal justice social work. A quantitative pattern analysis of four key variables among 3286 male Swedish probationers showed that worse contact than planned and a prior criminal record are associated with reconviction more often than expected. Worse contact could be a marker of potential reconviction during probation, indicating a need for immediate response. Probation may ‘work’ better when manual-based programmes and the

This article seeks to provide some background information on community justice centres in the US and the pilot North Liverpool Community Justice Centre – the results of an international roundtable, convened by the Center for Court Innovation and the Office for Public Management, that took place in London towards the end of 2004. Along the way, this paper seeks to begin to answer the following three questions: (1) can justice be ‘coproduced’ by citizens and criminal justice officials?; (2) what does community justice mean to both American and British audiences; and (3) what are the implications of community justice for how we think about the relationship between government and citizens? The article shows that the concept of community justice has a diversity of meanings attached to it, but there are two common themes. First, there is an emphasis on problem solving approaches, underpinned by a commitment to focusing on wider community safety issues rather than the administrative concerns of simply processing cases through the criminal justice system. Secondly, community justice works to ensure citizens are fully engaged with the criminal justice system, in particular by identifying local priorities and creating solutions to local problems. The article is divided into three main sections. First, the notion of the Community Justice Centre is put into context by considering the Red Hook Community Justice Center in the United States. The second part examines the adaptation of American thinking and practice in North Liverpool, England. The third part reports on a day long event convening more than twenty academics, policy makers and practitioners from the US and UK in a discussion on the practical application of the principles of community justice.

The What Works initiative in England and Wales has been vaunted as an example of evidence-based policy/practice. Yet despite such claims, the research base is limited and not strong enough to support a national programme. Various reasons for the limited use of research in criminal justice are examined, most of which are related to misunderstandings of what research can offer and how it is used. The purchaser-provider model of commissioning research consigns researchers to a lesser role. Given the current political climate and the rise of the Campbell Collaboration, there are good reasons to be anxious about the well-being of imaginative, innovative research.

This paper provides some critical reflections on the relatively neglected topic of child victims. In an attempt to address some current knowledge gaps, it considers the scope of available crime data, examines how children may be victims on the grounds of their personal characteristics, and looks at children’s relationship to prevailing legislation and societal power dynamics, both in the UK and abroad . In highlighting some of the consequences of child victimisation, it argues for the shoring up of both interprofessional responses and potential prevention strategies.

This paper draws on evidence arising from three separate studies to illustrate the gap which currently exists between political rhetoric and the reality of victims’ experiences in relation to the stated aims of the government to improve the services and support provided to victims of crime. Recent years have seen a significant shift in criminal justice policy from an offender focused criminal justice system to an unprecedented focus on victims, evident in populist political soundbites and the announcements of numerous reforms. However, victims and witnesses remain dissatisfied, as reflected in declining public confidence in criminal justice agencies despite overall falling rates in crime. Acknowledging now that victims and witnesses are vital participants in the criminal justice process, this paper examines current government attempts to improve public confidence, with the responsibility now being placed upon local Criminal Justice Boards to improve services locally. Essentially, it concludes that if reforms are to be successful, they must be supported by sufficient resources and implemented within a framework that recognises the reciprocity of obligations by offering something back to the victims and witnesses who take part.

In this article victim contact work undertaken by the New Zealand probation service will be reviewed. Victim contact work involves probation staff in making enquiries for reparation and emotional harm reports at the pre-sentence stage; for home detention reports; and for mediation meetings between victims and offenders. This piece will outline the New Zealand context for victim contact work and discuss a research study that explored the views of victims and probation staff as to the usefulness of such work. The key finding was that victim contact work was viewed as important by victims but was viewed as marginal to the overall work of the probation service