{"@type": "dcat:Dataset", "accessLevel": "public", "bureauCode": ["011:21"], "contactPoint": {"@type": "vcard:Contact", "fn": "Open Data Office of Justice Programs (USDOJ)", "hasEmail": "mailto:opendata@usdoj.gov"}, "dataQuality": false, "description": "The purpose of this study was to evaluate the\r\nimplementation of conferencing as a restorative policing practice.\r\nFamily group conferencing is considered an important new development\r\nin restorative justice practice as a means of dealing more effectively\r\nwith young first-time offenders by diverting them from court and\r\ninvolving their extended families and victims in conferences to\r\naddress their wrongdoing. Cases deemed eligible for the study were\r\nproperty crimes including retail and other thefts, criminal mischief\r\nand trespass, and violent crimes including threats, harassment,\r\ndisorderly conduct, and simple assaults. A total of 140 property crime\r\ncases and 75 violent crime cases were selected for the experiment,\r\nwith two-thirds of each type randomly assigned to a diversionary\r\nconference (treatment group) and one-third of each type assigned to\r\nformal adjudication (control group). Participation in the conference\r\nwas voluntary. If either party declined or if the offender did not\r\nadmit responsibility for the offense, the case was processed through\r\nnormal criminal justice channels. Those cases constituted a second\r\ntreatment group (decline group). The Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Police\r\nDepartment and the Community Service Foundation conducted a two-year\r\nstudy on the effectiveness of police-based family group\r\nconferencing. Beginning on November 1, 1995, 64 conferences were\r\nconducted for the study. Approximately two weeks after their cases\r\nwere disposed, victims, offenders, and offenders' parents in the three\r\nexperimental groups (control, conference, decline) were surveyed by\r\nmail, in-person interviews, or telephone interviews. Those who\r\nparticipated in conferences (Parts 4, 6, and 8) received a different\r\nquestionnaire than those whose cases went through formal adjudication\r\n(Parts 5, 7, and 9), with similar questions to allow for comparison\r\nand some questions particular to the type of processing used on their\r\ncase. Disposition data on cases were collected from five district\r\nmagistrates in Bethlehem from January 1, 1993, to September 12,\r\n1997. Data on recidivism and outcomes of the control and decline group\r\ncases were obtained from (1) the Bethlehem Police Department arrest\r\ndatabase (Part 1) and (2) a database of records from the five district\r\nmagistrates serving Bethlehem, drawn from a statewide magistrate court\r\ndatabase compiled by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts\r\n(Part 2). An attitudinal and work environment survey was administered\r\nto the Bethlehem Police Department on two occasions, just before the\r\nconferencing program commenced (pre-test) and eighteen months later\r\n(post-test) (Part 3). Part 1 variables include offender age, year of\r\noffense, charge code, amounts of fine and payments, crime type,\r\noffender crime category, and disposition. Part 2 collected disposition\r\ndata on cases in the study and officers' observations on the\r\nconferences. Demographic variables include offender's age at current\r\narrest, ethnicity, and gender. Other variables include type of charge,\r\narrest, disposition, sentence, and recidivism, reason not conferenced,\r\ncurrent recorded charge class, amounts of total fines, hours of\r\ncommunity service, and conditions of sentence. Part 3 collected\r\ninformation on police attitudes and work environment before and after\r\nthe conferencing program. Variables on organizational issues include\r\nratings on communication, morale, co-workers, supervision,\r\nadministration, amenities, equipment, and promotions. Variables on\r\noperational issues include ratings on danger, victims, frustration,\r\nexternal activities, complaints, workload, and driving. In Parts 4 to\r\n9, researchers asked offenders, parents of offenders, and victims\r\nabout their perceptions of how their cases were handled by the justice\r\nsystem and the fairness of the process, their attitudes and beliefs\r\nabout the justice system, and their attitudes toward the victim and\r\noffender. Variables include whether the respondent was satisfied with\r\nthe way the justice system handled the case, if the offender was held\r\naccountable for the offense, if meeting with the victim was helpful,\r\nif the respondent was surprised by anything in the conference, if the\r\nrespondent told the victim/offender how he/she felt, if there was an\r\nopportunity to reach an agreement acceptable to all, if the\r\noffender/parents apologized, if the victim/parents had a better\r\nopinion of the offender after the conference, what the respondent's\r\nattitude toward the conference was, if the respondent would recommend a\r\nconference to others, if the offender was pressured to do all the\r\ntalking, if the offender was treated with respect, if victim\r\nparticipation was insincere, if the respondent had a better\r\nunderstanding of how the victim was affected, if the victim only\r\nwanted to be paid back, and if conferences were responsive to needs.", "distribution": [{"@type": "dcat:Distribution", "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02679.v1", "title": "Bethlehem [Pennsylvania] Police Family Group Conferencing Project, 1993-1997"}], "identifier": "2921", "issued": "2000-08-28T00:00:00", "keyword": ["assault", "case processing", "disorderly conduct", "disposition (legal)", "family counseling", "harassment", "petty theft", "pretrial intervention", "pretrial procedures", "program evaluation", "property crime", "restorative justice"], "language": ["eng"], "license": "http://www.usa.gov/publicdomain/label/1.0/", "modified": "2006-03-30T00:00:00", "programCode": ["011:060"], "publisher": {"@type": "org:Organization", "name": "National Institute of Justice", "subOrganizationOf": {"acronym": "OJP", "id": 22, "name": "Office of Justice Programs", "parentOrganization": {"acronym": "DOJ", "id": 10, "name": "Department of Justice"}, "parentOrganizationID": 10}}, "title": "Bethlehem [Pennsylvania] Police Family Group Conferencing Project, 1993-1997"}