Bethlehem [Pennsylvania] Police Family Group Conferencing Project, 1993-1997 / Paul McCold, Benjamin Wachtel.

Format:

Datafile

Contributor:

McCold, Paul.

Wachtel, Benjamin.

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research.

Series:

ICPSR (Series) ; 2679.

ICPSR ; 2679

Language:

English

Genre:

Academic theses.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Edition:

ICPSR Version, 2006-03-30.

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor, Mich. : Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2000.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

data file

Summary:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of conferencing as a restorative policing practice. Family group conferencing is considered an important new development in restorative justice practice as a means of dealing more effectively with young first-time offenders by diverting them from court and involving their extended families and victims in conferences to address their wrongdoing. Cases deemed eligible for the study were property crimes including retail and other thefts, criminal mischief and trespass, and violent crimes including threats, harassment, disorderly conduct, and simple assaults. A total of 140 property crime cases and 75 violent crime cases were selected for the experiment, with two-thirds of each type randomly assigned to a diversionary conference (treatment group) and one-third of each type assigned to formal adjudication (control group). Participation in the conference was voluntary. If either party declined or if the offender did not admit responsibility for the offense, the case was processed through normal criminal justice channels. Those cases constituted a second treatment group (decline group). The Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Police Department and the Community Service Foundation conducted a two-year study on the effectiveness of police-based family group conferencing. Beginning on November 1, 1995, 64 conferences were conducted for the study. Approximately two weeks after their cases were disposed, victims, offenders, and offenders' parents in the three experimental groups (control, conference, decline) were surveyed by mail, in-person interviews, or telephone interviews. Those who participated in conferences (Parts 4, 6, and 8) received a different questionnaire than those whose cases went through formal adjudication (Parts 5, 7, and 9), with similar questions to allow for comparison and some questions particular to the typ... Cf.: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02679

Contents:

Part 1: Disposition Data on Cases From Five District Magistrates; Part 2: Disposition Data on Cases in the Study; Part 3: Police Survey Data; Part 4: Offender Conference Data; Part 5: Offender Court Data; Part 6: Parent Conference Data; Part 7: Parent Court Data; Part 8: Victim Conference Data; Part 9: Victim Court Data

Notes:

Title from ICPSR DDI metadata of 2006-09-15.

Start: 1993; and end: 1997.

OCLC:

61147732

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.