Constitutional Law

OSI Report on Justice Reform

The Open Society Institute released a new report entitled "Moving Toward a More Integrative Approach to Justice Reform," which urges researchers, advocates, and policymakers to consciously connect the dots between unaddressed social conditions and entry into the criminal justice system.

Nkechi Taifa, A Senior Policy Analyst with OSI, writes "We must address the underlying social context if we are to break the cycle of incarceration before it begins. And this can only occur through a strategic multi-disciplinary collaboration that cuts across the disciplinary silos to which we have become accustomed."

The report:

• Advocates for increased interdisciplinary collaboration in research, advocacy, and policymaking to break the cycle of incarceration before it begins.
• Provides an in-depth analysis of the race and poverty dynamics of America's criminal justice system, and the various risk and protective factors for delinquent and criminal conduct.
• Describes conceptual approaches for understanding the cycle of incarceration and its impact on communities.
• Urges a shift in the policymaking paradigm from building more prisons and jails, to investing in "pre-entry" human service interventions to decrease the risk of crime.
• Presents eight recommendations for moving toward a more integrative approach to justice reform.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on February 29, 2008 (boomark / email).