U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

American Criminal Justice Philosophy Revisited

NCJ Number
224199
Journal
Federal Probation: A Journal of Correctional Philosophy and Practice Volume: 72 Issue: 1 Dated: June 2008 Pages: 43-47
Author(s)
Curtis Blakely
Date Published
June 2008
Length
5 pages
Annotation
After a brief review of the histories of policing and corrections, this article examines whether recent movements embracing service and reform ideologies are contemporary innovations or whether they are merely a repackaging of earlier approaches.
Abstract
When comparing historic and modern criminal justice initiatives, it becomes obvious that original approaches were based on direct citizen involvement and the delivery of services to citizens and offenders alike. The advent of community policing acknowledges the value of these earlier approaches. Similarly, correctional officials are also becoming cognizant of traditional approaches. This has motivated officials to pursue offender reform as a way to promote public safety. These observations suggest that the criminal justice system is hesitant to completely abandon traditional service and reform ideologies which is reflected in the literature. This review of criminal justice initiatives, both past and present, reveals that community policing and the pursuit of offender reform are historic practices. However, while reform and service ideologies were established early in the system’s history, their continued application remains a testament to their value. References