Initial evaluation of reconviction rates in Community Justice Initiatives
| Author | Emmeline Taylor |
| Published date | 01 September 2010 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0264550510373972 |
| Date | 01 September 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Initial evaluation of reconviction rates in
Community Justice Initiatives
Community Justice Initiative (CJI) pilots commenced in North Liverpool and Salford
in 2005. Community Justice is a method of addressing the problems of offending in
a local area by engaging with the local community, making the court more respon-
sive to local people and working in partnership with criminal justice agencies, sup-
port groups and local community.
The research summary outlines the initial impact that the CJIs had on re-offending
in these two areas. In order to assess the initial impact of the CJIs on re-offending,
offenders that had passed through the CJI court in either Salford of Liverpool were
matched with a group of offenders who had not. The comparison group was taken
from Manchester as this area was determined to have a similar demographic profile
based on the economic context of the North West region, similar socio-
demographic characteristics based on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation, and the
similarity of cases going through the courts. Offenders were matched on a number
of characteristics associated with re-offending to allow for the statistical control of
pre-existing differences. The final sample was 6016 from Manchester, 424 from
North Liverpool and 94 from Salford.
Analysis demonstrated that the rates of re-offending within the first year for all
three areas were not statistically significantly different. Offenders that had passed
through the CJI court in Salford or North Liverpool were as likely to be reconvicted
as those in Manchester. Furthermore, the CJI cases were more likely to breach their
sentence conditions than those in Manchester, thus supporting the hypothesis that
CJIs were not decreasing the prevalence of offending. There was some evidence
to suggest that CJIs may have a positive impact on reducing the number of offences
per offender but this was not statistically significant.
It is worth noting that the CJI doesn’t have reducing re-offending as its sole objec-
tive. It also involves strategies for working more closely with the community and
increasing confidence in the Criminal Justice System. To this end, previous qualita-
tive research has shown that satisfaction levels of victims and witnesses in North
Liverpool increased as a result of speedier resolution of queries alongside a reduc-
tion in the time between arrest and sentencing.
The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
Copyright ª2010 NAPO Vol 57(3): 329-338
DOI: 10.1177/0264550510373972
www.napo.org.uk
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