Problem-Solving Courts and the Criminal Justice System

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David DeMatteo ◽  
Kirk Heilbrun ◽  
Shelby Arnold ◽  
Alice Thornewill
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Behavioral Health ◽  
Criminal Behavior ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Team Approach ◽  
Problem Solving Courts

Individuals with behavioral health disorders are significantly overrepresented in the criminal justice system. The incarceration of offenders with substance use disorders and mental illness has contributed to dramatic growth in the incarcerated population in the United States. Problem-solving courts provide judicially supervised treatment for behavioral health needs commonly found among offenders, including substance abuse and mental health, and they treat a variety of offender populations. By addressing the problems that underlie criminal behavior, problem-solving courts seek to decrease the “revolving door” that results when offender needs are not addressed. Problem-solving courts use a team approach among the judge, defense attorney, prosecutor, and treatment providers, which is a paradigm shift in how the justice system treats offenders with special needs. Offenders in problem-solving courts are held accountable for their behavior while being provided with judicially supervised treatment designed to reduce the risk of reoffending. Despite the proliferation of problem-solving courts, there are unanswered questions about how they function, how effective they are, and the most promising ways to implement problem-solving justice. Problem-Solving Courts and the Criminal Justice System is the first book to focus broadly on problem-solving courts. The changing landscape of the criminal justice system, recent development of problem-solving courts, and ongoing shift toward offender rehabilitation underscore the need for this book. This book provides those in the fields of mental health, criminal justice, law, and related fields with a comprehensive foundation of information related to the role of problem-solving courts in reforming the criminal justice system. This book also provides researchers, academics, administrators, and policy-makers with an overview of the existing research on problem-solving courts, including the challenges faced by researchers when examining these courts.

Problem-Solving Courts

2019 ◽  
pp. 200-210
Author(s):  
David DeMatteo ◽  
Kirk Heilbrun ◽  
Alice Thornewill ◽  
Shelby Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Behavioral Health ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Problem Solving Courts ◽  
Big Picture

This chapter summarizes problem-solving court principles and concepts, provides an overview of the limited reach of problem-solving courts, describes alternatives to problem-solving courts (e.g., diversion, smart sentencing, probation/parole), discusses strategies for incorporating a problem-solving approach in other aspects of the justice system, and examines current innovations for expanding problem-solving justice. This chapter discusses a “big picture” approach that includes a discussion of how reformation of certain aspects of the criminal justice system could effectively address the behavioral health needs of offenders and reduce recidivism. This chapter also discusses future directions within problem-solving justice in terms of research, practice, and policy.

Drug Courts

Criminology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Boldt ◽  
James L. Nolan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Drug Court ◽  
The United States ◽  
Outcome Studies ◽  
Drug Courts ◽  
Problem Solving Courts

Several thousand drug courts operate in jurisdictions throughout the United States. Similar courts have been established in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. The first drug court appeared in Dade County, Florida, in 1989. This initial effort and other first-generation drug courts helped to establish a model for subsequent problem-solving courts focused on substance use disorders, mental illness, domestic violence, and other circumstances that frequently co-occur with criminal justice system involvement. A range of problem-solving courts—including mental health courts, DUI (driving under the influence) courts, veterans courts, prostitution courts, re-entry courts, and gambling courts—have been developed both in the United States and internationally based on the drug court model. The design of these specialty courts emphasizes collaboration rather than an adversarial due-process-based approach to decision-making, therapeutic interventions instead of the legal resolution of disputed cases, and informal, individualized engagement by judges and other court actors. Key features of the drug court model include the placement of defendants in treatment programs, the close judicial monitoring of defendants though periodic status hearings, and the use of criminal penalties as leverage to retain defendants in treatment. Some drug courts engage criminal defendants prior to the adjudication of their charges, but increasingly these courts operate post-plea with the imposition of program requirements as conditions of probation or a suspended sentence. Drug courts have been a politically popular response to the problems of over-incarceration and criminal system overload produced in part by the late-20th-century “war on drugs.” Outcome studies often report successes in reducing drug use and criminal recidivism. Significant critiques of the drug court model and of problem-solving courts more generally have been offered, however, raising questions about the reliability of the outcome studies and about other negative consequences of the model, including net-widening, debasement of the therapeutic intentions of the enterprise, and other distortions in both the behavioral health treatment system and the criminal justice system.

The Paradox of Law Enforcement in Immigrant Communities

2012 ◽  
Vol 641 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Kirk ◽  
Andrew V. Papachristos ◽  
Jeffrey Fagan ◽  
Tom R. Tyler
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Criminal Behavior ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigrant Communities ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Willingness To Cooperate

Frustrated by federal inaction on immigration reform, several U.S. states in recent years have proposed or enacted laws designed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States and to facilitate their removal. An underappreciated implication of these laws is the potential alienation of immigrant communities—even law-abiding, cooperative individuals—from the criminal justice system. The ability of the criminal justice system to detect and sanction criminal behavior is dependent upon the cooperation of the general public, including acts such as the reporting of crime and identifying suspects. Cooperation is enhanced when local residents believe that laws are enforced fairly. In contrast, research reveals that cynicism of the police and the legal system undermines individuals’ willingness to cooperate with the police and engage in the collective actions necessary to socially control crime. By implication, recent trends toward strict local enforcement of immigration laws may actually undercut public safety by creating a cynicism of the law in immigrant communities. Using data from a 2002 survey of New York City residents, this study explores the implications of perceived injustices perpetrated by the criminal justice system for resident willingness to cooperate with the police in immigrant communities.

Crime and Criminal Behavior

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret E. Severson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Criminal Behavior ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Key Issues

This entry includes contemporary definitions of crime, theoretical ideas about the etiology of criminal behavior, and information about the methods used to estimate crime rates in the United States. The focus of this entry is on adult prisoners. Key issues such as disproportionate minority incarceration, the acceleration in the number of women entering into the criminal justice system over the last 20 years, and the prevalence of persons with mental illnesses in the nation's jails and prisons are addressed. Current controversies and practices such as risk reduction efforts and rehabilitation strategies are described.

Overview of the U.S. Criminal Justice System and Safety Tips for International Students

2016 ◽  
pp. 13-37
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Criminal Behavior ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Crime Victimization ◽  
The U.S

While most international students have a rewarding educational experience in the United States, a small percentage are arrested for criminal behavior or victimized by criminals. The author discusses safety from crime and provides safety tips to help reduce crime victimization potential. Further, since the American criminal justice system can be overwhelming, confusing, and intimidating for anyone who does not work within the system on a regular basis, this chapter provides international students and higher education officials with an overview of this system. The author also briefly discusses constitutional rights and the arrest and trial process. Finally, the author addresses some behaviors that international students should avoid to not place themselves at risk for receiving a criminal summons, citation, or arrest.

Overview of the U.S. Criminal Justice System and Safety Tips for International Students

2016 ◽  
pp. 264-288
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Criminal Behavior ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Crime Victimization ◽  
The U.S

While most international students have a rewarding educational experience in the United States, a small percentage are arrested for criminal behavior or victimized by criminals. The author discusses safety from crime and provides safety tips to help reduce crime victimization potential. Further, since the American criminal justice system can be overwhelming, confusing, and intimidating for anyone who does not work within the system on a regular basis, this chapter provides international students and higher education officials with an overview of this system. The author also briefly discusses constitutional rights and the arrest and trial process. Finally, the author addresses some behaviors that international students should avoid to not place themselves at risk for receiving a criminal summons, citation, or arrest.

Racial Justice and Criminal Justice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Valls
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Black Neighborhoods

The criminal justice system in the United States both reflects racial inequality in the broader society and contributes to it. The overrepresentation of African Americans among those in prison is a result of both the conditions in poor black neighborhoods and racial bias in the criminal justice system. The American system of criminal justice today is excessively punitive, when compared to previous periods and to other countries, and its harsh treatment disproportionately harms African Americans. In addition, those released from prison face a number of obstacles to housing, employment, and other prerequisites of decent life, and the concentration of prisoners and ex-prisoners in black communities does much to perpetuate racial inequality.

scholarly journals Mercy towards decarceration: Examining the legal constraints on early release from prison

Incarceration ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 263266632097780
Author(s):  
Alexandra Cox ◽  
Dwayne Betts
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Release ◽  
The Us ◽  
Legal Constraints ◽  
Release From Prison

There are close to seven million people under correctional supervision in the United States, both in prison and in the community. The US criminal justice system is widely regarded as an inherently unmerciful institution by scholars and policymakers but also by people who have spent time in prison and their family members; it is deeply punitive, racist, expansive and damaging in its reach. In this article, we probe the meanings of mercy for the institution of parole.

A problem-solving approach to criminalised women in the Australian context

2021 ◽  
pp. 1037969X2098510
Author(s):  
Megan Beatrice
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Therapeutic Jurisprudence ◽  
Upward Trend ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Australian Context

The upward trend of incarceration rates persists among women in Victoria, with increasingly punitive sentencing and onerous new bail laws. At the same time, the complex needs of women in the criminal justice system are becoming the focus of greater study and documentation. This article presents the case for a specialist women’s list under the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria jurisdiction, based in principles of therapeutic jurisprudence and procedural justice. While the list aims to reduce offending by addressing criminogenic factors unique to women, the picture is far bigger; the Victorian Women’s Court ultimately promotes justice for women who commit crimes.

Seeing Justice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Angela Bock
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Visual Media ◽  
The Way

Seeing Justice examines the way criminal justice in the United States is presented in visual media by focusing on the grounded practices of visual journalists in relationship with law enforcement. The book extends the concept of embodied gatekeeping, the corporeal and discursive practices connected to controlling visual media production and the complex ways social actors struggle over the construction of visual messages. Based on research that includes participant observation, extended interviews, and critical discourse analysis, the book provides a detailed examination of the way these practices shape media constructions and the way digitization is altering the relationships between media, citizens, and the criminal justice system. The project looks at contemporary cases that made the headlines through a theoretical lens based on the work of Michel Foucault, Walter Fisher, Stuart Hall, Nicholas Mirzoeff, Nick Couldry, and Roland Barthes. Its cases reveal the way powerful interests are able to shape representations of justice in ways that serve their purposes, occasionally at the expense of marginalized groups. Based on cases ranging from the last US public hanging to the proliferation of “Karen-shaming” videos, this monograph offers three observations. First, visual journalism’s physicality increases its reliance on those in power, making it easy for officials in the criminal justice system to shape its image. Second, image indexicality, even while it is subject to narrative negation, remains an essential affordance in the public sphere. Finally, participation in this visual public sphere must be considered as an essential human capability if not a human right.

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