Serial failures to redress social, legal, and economic injustice and structural racism underpin violence and disproportionally shape politics, policing, and judicial systems around the world. Yet bold reforms in different jurisdictions suggest that cross-cutting interventions can be cost-effective and foster more humane, inclusive and healthier societies. What can we learn, share and take to scale for long-term results?
As part of a major multi-year initiative – Global Innovations on Youth Violence, Safety and Justice – this focus group meeting will bring together a diverse, cross-sector, international, inter-generational cohort of participants to identify the most effective, viable and replicable solutions to transform judicial and prison systems. This focus group will address this systemic level of intervention to map the sectors and structures that directly/indirectly shape the institutional mandates, funding, staffing, metrics and accountability of judicial and prison systems.
Participation in this program is by invitation only.
In many countries around the world, including the United States, there is growing recognition among policymakers and reform advocates that effective criminal justice reform must look beyond the toolkit and institutions of the criminal justice system itself. In a growing number of settings, innovations based on community-centered, cross-sectoral approaches and socially integrative methods of engaging young people and violent offenders before, during, and after they encounter the criminal justice system, are proving to be more humane, just, and effective.
To catalyze global research-based exchange to tackle youth violence and promote youth safety and criminal justice reform, including the seeding of new strategies in the United States, Salzburg Global Seminar is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation and the David Rockefeller Fund on a major multi-year initiative.
The initiative will address the current structural, legal, economic, and social weaknesses and inefficiencies of judicial and custodial systems across multiple countries and jurisdictions. Working with diverse stakeholders from around the world, including young adults, it will identify the most innovative and effective approaches, tools, and technologies, in and outside the criminal justice system, to enhance public safety and community cohesion, reduce crime and incarceration, and help transform judicial and prison systems.
Key trends and drivers that will influence the future of reform efforts worldwide include:
This focus group is part of Phase 1 of the multi-year initiative, Global Innovations on Youth Violence, Safety and Justice. Please see the ABOUT section in the main menu for a full description of the format of the initiative.
In each focus group, a small group of stakeholders (see PARTICIPATION) will be asked to:
Focus groups addressing this systemic level of intervention will map the sectors and structures that directly/indirectly shape the institutional mandates, funding, staffing, metrics and accountability of judicial and prison systems. This analysis will support stepwise inquiry as follows:
This initiative will bring together a diverse, cross-sector, international and intergenerational group of stakeholders, including young people, formerly incarcerated people and victims/survivors of violence.
Participants in the initiative will include community representatives, educators, social entrepreneurs, activists, and leaders from public health, sports and culture; members of communities facing racial, ethnic, economic, and other forms of structural injustice; mayors, public officials, and policymakers; judges, prosecutors and public interest lawyers; police chiefs, prison governors and probation officers; formerly incarcerated persons; academics and researchers; and media/communications innovators.
Participation will be inclusive and non-transactional, using an iterative process that can engage thought leaders, practitioners, people with experience of incarceration, victims/survivors, and others with unique perspectives who are identified as the initiative evolves.
The initiative will first focus on the United States and selected countries in Latin America and Eurasia. Additional jurisdictions may be added to integrate specific examples and experiences of criminal justice transformation.
This multi-year initiative aims to:
In addressing these three goals, the initiative aims to accelerate systems change and lasting results at three levels:
For each level of intervention, the participants in the initiative will identify and evaluate approaches, tools and technologies in four specific fields:
Salzburg Global, partners and participants in the initiative will communicate and disseminate the most promising research-based strategies to reduce rates of violence, incarceration, and recidivism to policymakers and communities in the US and globally through publications, media, products, video interviews/documentaries, targeted recommendations, and a future cross-sector research agenda.