What is the purpose of the criminal justice system? Is it punishment? Or retribution? Perhaps rehabilitation? Deterrence? Public safety? While there is undoubtedly a little of all of these in practice, rehabilitation is at the heart of modern penal policy in the UK and US systems where I have worked. In my experience the reality of the aspiration to provide rehabilitation (defined as ‘the reintegration of a convicted person into society’) is hampered by the fragmentation of the criminal justice system that leads different organisations, divisions and people to act in isolation rather than together. The Offender Resettlement Journey (ORJ), created by Peter Garrett and me, is a Dialogic response to integrate the activity of the whole system – including the offender – to achieve the common goal of successful resettlement. The theory and practice of the ORJ is based on knowledge generated over many years of Dialogue with offenders and people who work in the criminal justice system at all levels, alongside our experience of organisational consulting. In this paper I’d like to explore some of the key features of the ORJ, how they developed, and the relevance of the ORJ for effective Professional Dialogue within the Criminal Justice.
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