Action Research in Criminal Justice
Restorative justice approaches in intercultural settings
Inge Vanfraechem editor Ivo Aertsen editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:4th Feb '19
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£135.00(9781138120914)
To understand how people experience justice and security is a challenging task in times of unrest, marked by growing perceptions of insecurity, discrimination and uncertainty. The European project ALTERNATIVE aimed to understand justice and security experiences related to conflicts in intercultural settings, when citizens are given the means to actively contribute to these processes.
This book relates how the project was set up as an action research through the concrete description of four action sites: social housing estates in Vienna, Austria; a small community in Hungary with a Roma population; three border towns in Serbia; and three communities in Northern Ireland. These four sites have been compared through an innovative methodology, which leads to a deeper understanding of the impact of participatory and restorative justice oriented processes, and - in a more general way - of what action research may entail in the criminological field. Bringing together researchers and case studies from around Europe, this book examines the scientific potential of action research as a methodology in criminal justice settings.
This book is one of two volumes resulting from the work by a group of researchers in six European countries having cooperated intensively during four years in ALTERNATIVE, an action research project funded under the EU Seventh Framework Programme.
"There is too little ‘action research’ in the field of restorative and criminal justice. This collection of essays is therefore a welcome addition to scholarship on conflicts in ‘intercultural’ settings. While there has been some empirical work on Northern Ireland, the chapters on Austria, Hungary and Serbia provide readers who are very familiar with Anglo-American research with something new."
- Carolyn Hoyle, Professor and Director of the Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford, UK
"The volume presents a variety of approaches for dealing constructively with conflicts and a treasure of expertise collected in different geographic areas, starting from Scandinavia, up to Central and South-East Europe. It is based on a fruitful and multidisciplinary cooperation between scholars and practitioners from Norway, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Northern Ireland. Some of them have a solid track record in restorative justice in the field of criminology, others are experts in mediation, conflict transformation and conflict resolution in local communities or intercultural settings, and others are eager to cope with the legacies of violence in post-war societies. All case studies have one finding in common: in certain settings, involving stakeholders and make them take own responsibility for problem-solving will offer more convincing and sustainable paths to justice and security, rather than institutionalized forms that rely on the force of law or violence. Moreover, the book gives insights in a highly innovative approach: it demonstrates that action research is a very appropriate way to address these sensitive issues, as it involves the people on the ground and allows for trust-building and mutual learning between those who work in and on conflicts, and those who are stakeholders and those who observe and analyze (or facilitate) the process."
- Dr Martina Fischer, Peace Researcher and Political Scientist, Berlin, Germany
ISBN: 9780367227517
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 426g
210 pages