Within critical criminology the term net-widening is used to describe the effects of providing alternatives to incarceration or diversion programs to direct offenders away from court. Net widening or 'widening the net' is the name given to the process of administrative that result in a greater number of individuals being controlled by the criminal justice system. It has been found that with net-widening the total numbers of offenders under the control of the state have increased while the population targeted for reduction has not been reduced.
Community mental health programs and community corrections are developed in response to the desire for deinstitutionalization, and community corrections has come to be seen as an aspect of net widening. All of the net-widening programs developed since the late 1960's were intended to reduce the numbers of offenders in prison or reduce the numbers going to court. In short, the net of social control has been thrown more widely.
The conclusion of positivists that nothing works in this rehabilitative ideal has been interpreted by critical criminologists as nothing works in reforming the recalcitrant criminal justice system. When assessing the net-widening or the net-narrowing of the juvenile justice system, researchers should compare the boundaries of the juvenile justice system with those of other components of the justice system.
Net-Widening - Vagaries
in the Use of a Concept -
MAEVE McMAHON.
Problematic aspects of the concept of net-widening
as used in critical analyses of community corrections are documented. Political
and analytical rationales for challenging contentions of net-widening are
advanced. The critical literature yields a political void. Methodological problems in analyses of
net-widening are illustrated through a re-examination of several key studies.
Net-Widening of the
Juvenile Justice System in Japan -
Minoru Yokoyama.
The phenomenon of net-widening was identified by American scholars carrying out research
for the evaluation of diversion programs in the American juvenile justice system. The
phenomenon, however, can occur independent of diversion programs. By identifying the boundaries, one can attempt to
explain how the net-widening of the juvenile justice system has occurred in Japan.
Juvenile Arbitration:
Net Widening and Other Unintended Consequences - Mark Ezell
This study seeks to determine whether a juvenile arbitration program can alter the reach
of the court in a unique fashion. Using an interrupted time-series design with a
comparison group, it shows that the preprogram trend of increasing rates of judicial
handling shifted to a decreasing pattern but that the rates of judicial supervision
continued to climb.