This book reflects on the institutionalisation of restorative justice over the last 20 years and offers a critical analysis of the qualitative consequences generated by such a process on the normative structure of restorative justice, and on its understanding and uses in practice. Bringing together an international collection of leading scholars, this book provides a range of context-sensitive case studies that enhance our understanding of the development of international, national and institutional policy frameworks for restorative justice, the mainstreaming of practices within the criminal justice system, the proliferation of cultural, social and political co-optations of restorative justice and the ways in which the formalisation of the restorative justice movement have affected its values, aims and goals.

Over the past forty years, the criminal justice system in the United States has engaged in a very expensive policy failure, attempting to punish its way to public safety, with dismal results. So-called "tough on crime" policies have not only failed to effectively reduce crime, recidivism, and victimization but also created an incredibly inefficient system that routinely fails the public, taxpayers, crime victims, criminal offenders, their families, and their communities. Strategies that focus on behavior change are much more productive and cost effective for reducing crime than punishment, and in this book, William R. Kelly discusses the policy, process, and funding innovations and priorities that the United States needs to effectively reduce crime, recidivism, victimization, and cost. He recommends proactive, evidence-based interventions to address criminogenic behavior; collaborative decision making from a variety of professions and disciplines; and a focus on innovative alternatives to incarceration, such as problem-solving courts and probation. Students, professionals, and policy makers alike will find in this comprehensive text a bracing discussion of how our criminal justice system became broken and the best strategies by which to fix it.

After 650 years justices of the peace find themselves at a crossroads. This book looks at the role of one of the UK's oldest institutions in a rapidly changing world.

Since the fall of the Siad Bare regime in Somalia in 1991 and the fratricidal war that it unleashed in its wake, Somalia has been without an effective central government. Instead, warlords and their armed bandits have been controlling different parts of the country, with the former British colony of northern Somaliland unilaterally proclaiming its independence. Developments in the country since the recent transitional government was set up in 2004 have, however, presented both opportunities and challenges for the country. While much has been reported about the prevailing situation in the country, there has been a paucity of research articulating the various perspectives and challenges in the efforts to reconstitute Somalia's failed state. This book hopes to contribute in filling this gap. Contributors to the volume examine the various issues that lie behind the current situation in Somalia, seeking answers to a number of crucial questions: Why did the Somali state fail? What role did external actors and the internal configurations of the Somalis' socio-political structure play in the state collapse? Did the various peace and reconciliation conferences really achieve anything? Should Somalia be reconstituted as one state or should more than one state be allowed to emerge from the ashes of the collapsed state? What is the way forward out of the current imbroglio in Somalia?

The 38th World Congress of IIS addressed some of the most fundamental issues of sociological inquiry in light of global processes and the development of different fields of knowledge: What does it mean to be human? What is the nature of social as opposed to natural processes? How do efforts to map the social and political world interact with that world and with traditional sociological practices? What can we say about relationships between scientific, political and religious beliefs? This volume sets the stage for a sustained look at what social science can say about the twenty-first century and to address the theme of the congress in 2008: Sociology Looks at the 21st Century. From Local Universalism to Global Contextualism. Contributors are: Gustaf Arrhenius, Rajeev Bhargava, Craig Calhoun, Shmuel N. Eisenstadt, Yehuda Elkana, Raghavendra Gadagkar, Peter Hedström, Hans Joas, Hannes Klöpper, Ivan Krastev, Steven Lukes, Vinh-Kim Nguyen, Helga Nowotny, Shalini Randeria, Alan Ryan, Jyotirmaya Sharma, Christina Torén, Michel Wieviorka, Björn Wittrock, Petri Ylikoski.

Built on the foundation of their landmark Handbook of Qualitative Research, it extends beyond the investigation of qualitative inquiry itself to explore the indigenous and non-indigenous voices that inform research, policy, politics, and social justice.

An overview of public religion in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Using the notion of ‘crossroads’ to provide a unique lens through which to examine the realities of rural crime, Crossroads of Rural Crime provides an understanding of the nature of rural life and ways in which transgression manifests itself in the context of a presumed rural-urban divide.

Restorative justice is a concept which could have significant implications for both the law and social regulation. In this book, the authors give an insight to how the introduction of these techniques has been received in the Republic of Ireland, shedding light on what could be the key to developing new responses to crime.