Criminology Commons^™

Community Justice And Public Safety: Assessing Criminal Justice Policy Through The Lens Of The Social Contract, Caitlin J. Taylor, Kathleen Auerhahn

Sociology and Criminal Justice Faculty work

A reconceptualization of the idea of “community justice” is framed in the logic of the social contract and emphasizes the responsibility of the justice system for the provision of public safety. First, we illustrate the ways in which the criminal justice system has hindered the efforts of community residents to participate in the production of public safety by disrupting informal social networks. Then we turn to an examination of the compositional dynamics of California prison populations over time to demonstrate that the American justice system has failed to meet their obligations to provide public safety by incapacitating dangerous offenders. We …