Plymouth Community Justice Court: A Case Study of Problem Solving Interventions, Reducing Re-offending and Public Confidence

The criminal justice system has over many years introduced a range of initiatives designed to reduce crime and support offenders in their efforts to desist from crime. One recent initiative, originating in the U.S.A and aimed specifically at low risk offenders, adopted by the English court system is the community justice approach. It has been piloted in a number of areas of England including Plymouth where in May, 2007 a Community Justice Court (CJC) was established alongside the Magistrates' Court.
There are two main ways in which the CJC differs from the traditional Magistrates' Court. First, the community is involved in identifying crimes or anti-social behaviours which can be targeted by the police and then in identifying work which offenders could undertake to make reparation to the community. Second, the CJC can use problem solving meetings which involve the offender and staff from probation and other third sector and statutory agencies. The aim of the meetings is to focus on the problems which have contributed to the offender's criminal behaviour and identify ways in which these problems can be tackled. The decisions of the problem solving meeting are then built into the sentence imposed by the CJC. The rationale is that if a solution can be found to these problems then the offender will be less inclined to commit crimes in the future.
This project has four main foci. First, it will develop an understanding of the effectiveness of the CJC by tracking cases and examining re-offending data. Second, it will examine in detail how the CJC operates and how and on what basis decisions are made whether to refer particular cases to problem solving meetings. Third, it will examine how problem solving meetings actually function. There are two aspects of problem solving meetings which are critical to their effectiveness: collaboration between professionals and the nature and extent of the participation by the offender, and the aim here is to identify how these are accomplished and what impact they have on outcomes. Finally the project will examine how communities respond to the CJC and what sort of confidence they express in its procedures.
To address these questions we will undertake four packages of research work reflecting each of these aims. First, we will collate and analyse statistics from the courts, police and probation in order to estimate how effective the court is in preventing re-offending. We will also interview a sample of offenders to gain an understanding of how they evaluate the impact of the court on their behaviour. Second, we will make detailed observations of the activities of the court and interview those who work in the court (e.g. magistrates, probation staff, solicitors) for their perceptions of how the CJC operates and how decisions about referral to problem solving meetings come about. Third, we will make video recordings of a sample of problem solving meetings. These recordings will be transcribed and then subjected to detailed analysis for patterns of interaction related to collaboration and participation and which can be identified as influencing the functioning and outcome of these meetings. Finally, we will undertake surveys and focus groups with residents in order to gauge how selected neighbourhoods perceive the effectiveness of the court.
By focusing on the processes involved in the day to day operation of the CJC, we aim to understand better how this form of justice operates and to identify practices which promote its effectiveness. The results of our project will reveal a number of lessons which will be applicable beyond the Plymouth model and be able to inform criminal justice agencies more widely. These findings will be disseminated to those working in the criminal justice system and local communities in order to improve understanding of how community justice works and, more practically, to help develop the skills of those who are involved in the different operations of the court.

There will be a number of beneficiaries of this research. Direct beneficiaries will be those whose role requires them to work within or in a closely associated way with the criminal justice court (CJC) in Plymouth. These beneficiaries include probation staff, magistrates, police and third sector staff who input into problem solving meetings. In addition this project will be of direct benefit to the managers of the lead services who are responsible for implementing criminal justice policy and practice in Devon and Cornwall.
Also benefiting from this research are those who work for criminal justice organisations but who are not directly involved in the Plymouth CJC. These beneficiaries include those who would wish to gain a greater insight into this particular implementation of community justice. Furthermore, those with a responsibility for designing and implementing criminal justice policy would also benefit from this research. These beneficiaries will include those who work for or are closely associated with Her Majesty's Court Services, and those within the Ministry of Justice who are responsible for policy involving the courts.
The ways in which these people will benefit from this research are through three main impact activities: maintaining continuous engagement with the lead criminal justice organisations based on excellent existing relationships; knowledge exchange and public engagement activities; and capability development through the development and delivery of training packages. The key to delivering impact activities will be sustaining working relationships with the senior managers in the lead criminal justice organisations. This contact will be maintained through variety of activities but principally through our attendance at meetings and the delivery of updates to the group over the course of the project.
Knowledge exchange activities will benefit individuals and organisations by providing them with information and analysis about current practice in the CJC and areas where practice could be improved. In addition dissemination will occur locally to those whose work involves them in the CJC or through established dissemination outlets associated with the lead criminal justice organisations. In addition members of the research team will give bespoke presentations to particular professional groups with an interest in community justice. Toward the end of the project, we anticipate being able to disseminate our findings to professional stakeholders through a specially organised themed conference run through the University's Law and Criminal Justice Research Centre. We will also deliver presentations at conferences which are attended by criminal justice professionals and write articles for professional journals. Public engagement activities would be undertaken alongside the lead criminal justice organisations such that we would offer to be involved in their established engagement activities.
Our other means for benefiting individuals and groups is through the development and delivery of training packages specifically for those who are involved in managing and participating in problem solving meetings. We anticipate that the video data and analysis of the problem solving meetings will yield a rich corpus of data identifying different practices which can be seen to influence the trajectory of the meetings. We intend to develop training packages which draw upon these findings by allowing us to display the different practices and their procedural consequences for the participants. Trainees would then be able to identify and discuss the nature of the practices, their outcomes and whether such outcomes are ones anticipated and desired by participants. This form of training would also allow trainees to identify alternative practices which might yield better outcomes.