Half Full: Searching for Success in the Criminal Justice System

Kenneth Mentor, New Mexico State University

ABSTRACT
This paper suggests an alternative to the "nothing works" theme of many criminal justice textbooks. This theme may lead to a sense of hopelessness among our students--the very individuals we hope will be creative and thoughtful policy makers in the future. While it is instructive to educate students about the failures of the dominant criminal justice system, it is also important to present alternatives. In trugh, there are many programs, typically on a smaller scale, that appear to provide promising alternatives to the status quo. In reviewing these alternatives a humanistic or peacemaking theme often becomes apparent. This paper relies on this theme as a framework for categorizing these programs.

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Updated 05/20/2006