Preface

Public trust in governments and their institutions has been declining globally. This Introduction does not offer the ground to present the reasons for this decline, which have been observed and studied by many over the last few decades (e.g. Garland, 1996; Zedner, 2002). As part of the government machinery, criminal justice institutions are not exempted from public scrutiny. Courts, the police, probation, prosecution and all related justice services do not exist in a vacuum either. They are developed and function within the societies that they are meant to serve. If they are structured within disempowering governments and democracies, then their users’ experience will be one of disappointment. This decline in trust is also very much linked with users’ perceptions and experiences of equality (or inequality). And we do not need scientific evidence to conclude that the criminal justice system has flaws. We have been experiencing these flaws for many decades through its performance, overt or hidden biases, costs and the feeling of safety that is meant to generate for everyone independently of their background (Gavrielides, 2014). Although the majority of the public do not engage in readings about facts and figures on wealth distribution, their living reality is what drives their fear and anxiety about justice and its current system of delivery. This unavoidable truth gradually leads to disengagement and apathy. Concurrently with the decline in public trust and justice performance globally, there has been a rise of community voice and action (Gavrielides and Blake, 2013; Rosenblatt, 2015). In a globalised world where the internet, social media and borderless continents define how we send and receive information, the notion of community had to redefine itself. It is no longer a place – it is a sense of belonging. It is within this transitional global and political framework that I enthusiastically agreed to edit this international Handbook. I hope that it will become part of the aforementioned listening process.