NCJ Number
205089
Date Published
January 2004
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes and assesses the U.S. Justice Department's
Re-entry Partnership Initiative (RPI) with reference to the
community justice model and examines the contributions of
informal social control to any structured efforts by formal
social control agencies to support offender re-entry.
Abstract
In assimilating deterrence and restorative justice concepts,
community justice models demand that the community, formal
justice agencies, and the offender share the responsibility of
successful reintegration. The U.S. Justice Department, through
the guidance of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), developed
eight pilot RPI sites. The States with RPI sites had to agree to
build a re-entry infrastructure that emphasized the collaborative
involvement of corrections, probation/parole, law enforcement,
victim organizations, treatment agencies, housing agencies, and
other community groups. Although the OJP provided technical assistance to the sites, they received no Federal funds for
either planning or operations. Each site was responsible for defining, developing, and implementing a partnership suitable to the sociopolitical environment of the State and selected locality
for the initiative. Reflecting some of the principles of intensive aftercare and other integrated service models, the best
RPI sites have attempted to implement programs that are based in
a system of unrestricted case management in which the collective
efforts of justice agencies, service providers, family, and other
community supports are devoted to the enhancement of the offender's accountability and productivity in the community. The new model presents a research agenda that focuses on the individual-community interaction and its impact on individual criminal behavior. The available research on informal social controls shows promise for the future, but it is not clear
whether the nature of the informal social control personally
affects differential outcomes. Even more critical is the issue of
whether the linkage between the formal and informal social controls can, overall, affect the rate of offenders who successfully reintegrate into the community. 48 references
Date Published: January 1, 2004