Problem Solving Courts A Measure of Justice

With overcrowded prisons and high reoffender rates, communities are increasingly concerned about not only punishing criminal offenders, but also rehabilitating them and addressing the social issues that contribute to crime in communities. Problem Solving Courts explores a relatively new approach to criminal justice-one that can have a powerful impact on how offenders connect with their communities. Problem solving courts, born out of the drug court movement in the 1980s, are run by judges who, with the assistance of law enforcement agents and social service providers, meet with participants on a weekly basis to assess progress. Programs include housing, drug abuse therapy, work training and employment, family therapy, and volunteer work. In this unique collaboration, scholar JoAnn Miller and Judge Donald C. Johnson address the compelling needs for alternatives to prisons, analyze problem solving courts in depth, and asses the impact that problem solving courts can have on ex-offenders and their communities. Book jacket.

JoAnn Miller is associate dean for the College of Liberal Arts and professor of sociology at Purdue University. She is President (2010) of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and has been the cocreator, with Donald C. Johnson, of problem solving courts. Donald C. Johnson has implemented and run three problem solving courts in Indiana. He was elected three times as a superior court judge in Indiana, following a fifteen-year legal practice. He was a special agent for the FBI and served as deputy prosecutor.