Criminal Justice
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Criminal Justice
Community Psychologists study the interactions between law enforcement, the legal system, and communities defined by geographic, socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, and religious identities. Community Psychologists facilitate research, discussion, collaboration, and action to promote better understanding of laws and law enforcement within these community contexts.
Posted in: Criminal Justice, Marginalized Groups, Poverty and Socioeconomic Status | Tags: Featured ResearchPublished in: American Journal of Community PsychologyA systems approach is needed to address the context roots underlying urban access to healthy food. The root problem stems back to systemic racism. Creating sustainable community wealth can address food deserts and upstream issues criminal justice.
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Posted in: Criminal Justice, Public Policy | Tags: Featured ResearchWe can scale up prevention science through policy frameworks to improve lives. Policies can be used to improve social justice through more effective and preventative solutions for justice-involved youth.
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Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Criminal Justice, Marginalized Groups, Poverty and Socioeconomic StatusPublished in: American Journal of Community PsychologyMany African American adolescents living in low-resourced urban neighborhoods experience high exposure to community violence. Exposure may vary over time and be influenced by individual- and contextual-level factors. Identifying specific risk factors associated with more chronic and severe exposure may guide preventive intervention efforts.
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Posted in: Coalition Building, Criminal Justice, Violence PreventionPublished in: American Journal of Community PsychologyWhile infrastructures can improve teams’ relationships and work, some are difficult to implement. SARTs could first focus on infrastructures that build trust and buy-in before adopting other accountability-focused infrastructures. Improving SART infrastructures can help promote SART collaboration and thereby improve survivors’ experiences.
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Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Criminal JusticePublished in: American Journal of Community PsychologyYouth are not best served in JDC environments and should be diverted to community-based and therapeutic environments whenever possible. Girls’ feedback through a confidential youth advisory process prompted systemic change better suited to meet their needs.
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Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Criminal JusticePublished in: American Journal of Community PsychologyTreatments and programs in the juvenile justice system may not work as well for girls as they do for boys. Rehabilitation programs must be understood in context including different program format types (individual, group, family) and program emphases (cognitive, behavioral, family systems).
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Posted in: Children, Youth and Families, Criminal JusticePublished in: American Journal of Community PsychologyFamily-based interventions have the potential to reduce recidivism in girls. Contextual factors such as poverty, an unstructured home life, domestic violence, and neglect must be addressed in successful interventions.
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Posted in: Criminal Justice, Marginalized GroupsPublished in: American Journal of Community PsychologyJuvenile offending is not simply the outgrowth of “poor choices”. Rather, antisocial behavior may reflect adolescents’ views of unfairness and injustice within the legal system and the world at large.
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Posted in: Criminal Justice, Immigrant JusticeWhile there is a long history of cooperation between local police and sheriffs and federal immigration agents in the United States, the issue has more recently become a source of conflict. Local police and sheriffs are increasingly seen as “force multipliers” for the federal government causing some backlash at a time when many are calling […]
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Posted in: Criminal JusticePublished in: American Journal of Community PsychologyPerceived stigma is common among people with criminal records. We can reduce criminal record stigma and discrimination and provide work and social opportunities to enhance quality of life post-incarceration.
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