Corrections_Today_May_June_2019

Communications & Publications

relatively new. Despite these limitations, Sered demonstrated to this reader’s satisfaction that Common Justice has achieved some remarkable successes — especially in the context of the success rates of a “standard” criminal justice system response to violent crime. This is an innovative program. Few, if any other, restorative justice programs include violent criminals in their service strata. One also wonders to what extent the success of Common Justice is attributable to the fact that this is a small, well-resourced program run by a cadre of highly motivated and dedicated individuals. Is this a boutique program, or is it a

scalable new model? Investments to support replications, to refine/ standardize this model and to conduct evaluations would serve to answer these important questions. An additional word about this book is required. Sered has done a commendable job of presenting the case for restorative justice responses to violent crime. But be advised that this book concludes with chapters that are highly political, addressing broader issues of violence in American society. These concluding sections cover such diverse topics as reparation payments for slavery, redistribution of wealth and the

need for police entities to publish statements acknowledging past harm to individuals and communities. Responding to these chapters, readers with political perspectives differing from Sered’s may tend to dismiss her contributions to discussions of potentially effective justice reinvestment opportunities. That would be unfortunate, because regardless of one’s views on Sered’s more general positions on societal reforms, her experience-informed words on restorative justice responses to crimes of violence merit close consideration in the corrections community. u

ACA Seeks Book Authors Do you have experience in corrections and the desire to inform others about what you have learned? If so, you are a potential ACA author. We are seeking corrections professionals to submit book manuscripts for review and consideration on a variety of subject matter.

Possible topics include • Ethics in corrections. • Effective mental health treatment. • Sex offender monitoring and treatment. • Financial management in corrections. • Programs for long-term offenders. • Staff training. • Greening of corrections: innovative strategies. • Preparing offenders for reentry. • Incarcerated women: reducing recidivism.

Your suggestions for books on other topics are welcome. For more information, please contact 800-222-5646, ext. 0194.

84 — May/June 2019 Corrections Today