Correcting Community Service: From Work Crews to Community Work in a Juvenile Court

Abstract

In 2001, the Clark County Juvenile Court in Washington State implemented the use of "restorative community service" (RCS) as part of its larger adoption of a restorative justice framework. This paper explores the court's implementation and use of RCS, including: (1) the types of institutional changes made by the court in its development of RCS, (2) the types and qualities of social interactions observed by the researcher through participant observation at several RCS sites, (3) the practical implications of these findings for proponents of restorative justice in the use of community service in youth settings, and (4) the theoretical implications of these findings for sociological and criminological research on community service.