Research Outputs
Research into Innovative Justice Processes takes a proactive approach to developing an effective justice system.
Core strengths of our research include:
- Restorative justice conferencing and diversionary practices
- Indigenous justice practices and sentencing courts
- International criminal justice and transitional justice
- Youth crime and justice
- Sexual, family, and domestic violence
- Class, gender, race, and age inequalities in the criminal justice
- Specialised courts, tribunals, and inquiries
With a reputation as being among Australia's leading researchers in Criminology, our staff work frequently with international academics and practitioners, which provides opportunities to study practices and processes from other societies and systems. Staff are responsible for some of the leading criminology and criminal justice texts that continue to define and shape the direction of the discipline and play an active role in developing alternative and proactive approaches to addressing crime. Our research has links to research conducted within the themes "Policing and Crime Control", "Violence Research" and "Preventing Sexual Violence and Abuse", and there is frequent collaboration with colleagues working on these themes.
Research
Our research focuses on established and innovative mechanisms of responding to crime and deviance in society. We examine and evaluate institutions, systems, and processes of justice. We are interested to identify and investigate new ways of responding to crime and deviance through empirical studies that use qualitative, and socio-legal methods. We are engaged in a programme of research on restorative justice, youth crime and justice, contemporary forms of Indigenous justice, therapeutic jurisprudence, specialised courts and tribunals, and international and transitional justice. Our researchers are nationally and international acknowledged scholars and global leaders in these areas.
Policy
In keeping with Griffith's emphasis on crime prevention and social justice, our research provides examples and prototypes that encourage policymakers to look outside existing practices and processes to consider other cultural and social innovations that recognise crime as one of a number of interlinked social, economic, and political challenges within society, not as an individual social problem. Our research seeks to understand the impact of class, racial-ethinic, age, and gender divisions in society, and the greater criminalisation of some groups. Government policies of the past century have played a significant role in amplifying the problem of crime in some groups. Our aim is to break with these policies by advising policymakers on more constructive responses to crime, which can have a more positive impact on the lives of offenders and victims, and a greater crime prevention potential.
Practice
Working in partnership with all levels of the justice system in its broad societal context, Griffith research provides practical knowledge that can be utilised by policymakers, practitioners, and citizens. Whether focusing on applications of research for the judiciary or training future criminal justice specialists, our research remains grounded in providing relevant tools and outcomes for all those participating in justice practices.