The Civil Societys Implications in the Criminal Justice System.

Report
Implicaiile Societii Civile n Sfera Justiiei Penale. Raport
Cecilia POPA
Master of Probation, University of Bucharest
Romania
Abstract: After 20 years since the fall of Communism, Romania still does not have a
compact civil society able to engage all its human, material, and financial capital in
the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders. Sooner or later convicted people
will return to our communities and their success in doing so will depend to a greater
extent on those parties outside of the criminal justice system ready to help. Although
the society has developed itself extensively after 1989, when communism fell, one
might ask why we have not reached a substantive and significant change in the field
of criminal justice? With a qualitative research, the present paper highlights the
benefits that civil society can have, especially nongovernmental organizations, in
regard to delivering solutions to the criminal justice system. Based on 21 interviews
with the main social actors within the criminal justice system in Romania, and 31
questionnaires with community respondents regarding restructuring the punitive
system and drafting a human rights platform for those who serve a sentence, I will
draw your attention to some concrete and convenient solutions.
Key words: civil society, criminal justice, reintegration
Abstract: La 20 de ani de la comunism nc nu avem o societate civil compact
care s-i angreneze ntreg capitalul uman, material i financiar n reabilitarea i
reintegrarea persoanelor condamnate. Mai devreme sau mai trziu persoanele
condamnate se vor ntoarce n societate i felul n care ele o vor face depinde ntr-o
mare msur de cei din afara sistemului penal. Dei societatea civil s-a dezvoltat
foarte mult dup 1989, i n alte sectoare de activitate a reuit s-i aduc un real
impact, ne punem ntrebarea de ce n justiia penal nu reuim s aducem o

schimbare semnificativ de fond? Studiul de fa dorete s aduc n atenie, printr-o

cercetare calitativ, beneficiile societii civile, cu predilecie a organizaiilor
neguvernamentale, care pot constitui o soluie real la sistemul justiiei penale. Pe
fondul a 21 de interviuri realizate cu actorii sociali cheie din sfera sistemului de
justiie penal din Romnia i 31 de chestionare cu respondeni din comunitate,
privind restructurarea sistemului punitiv i creionarea unui fond real al drepturilor
omului pentru persoanele care ispesc o sentin penal, doresc s atrag atenia
asupra soluiilor concrete i la ndemn.
Cuvinte cheie: societate civil, justiie penal, reintegrare
Acronyms
AAS Asociaia Alternative Sociale / Social Alternatives Association
ANP Administraia Naional a Penitenciarelor / National Administration of
Penitentiaries
APADOR-CH Asociaia Pentru Aprarea Drepturilor Omului-Comitetul Helsinki /
The Association For Defending Human Rights-Helsinki Committee
FDSC Fundaia pentru Dezvoltarea Societii Civile / The Foundation for the
Development of Civil Society
GRADO Grupal Romn pentru Aprarea Drepturilor Omului / The Romanian
Group for Defending Human Rights
MJ Ministerul Justiiei / Ministry of Justice
PFR Prison Fellowship Romania
UAIC Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza / Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
UB Universitatea din Bucureti / The University of Bucharest
UBB Universitatea Babe-Bolyai / Babe-Bolyai University
UH Universitatea Hyperion / Hyperion University
UVT Universitatea de Vest din Timioara / West University of Timioara

49

Introduction
Justice is measured by finding balance between fairness and safety. The
sphere of justice encompasses many social actors destined to provide a sustainable
intervention in a diverse range of actions. Here we can find the civil society, mainly
those from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which intervene at different
stages of the criminal justice process. This paper will underline, through an empirical
study, what has been done in the criminal justice system by the civil society in
Romania in the past 20 years, and what are the solutions in this regard.
NGOs and Justice
An NGO is described as an apolitical identity, part of the civil society that
intervenes with policy makers and state institutions to influence them in order to
defend the interests of the people they represent.14
Plowden (2003) mentioned about a cooperation protocol between the
American government and the non-governmental sector. In 1999 a number of NGOs,
those with strong evidence of good results, received one-third of their income from
the state. Even if in Romania there is a law that defines NGOs of public utility15,
which means accessing public money in order to implement social services of public
interest, the benefit at first glance is not very favorable for NGOs as we will see later
in the paper.
Faulkner (2008) reinforced those related by Plowden, indicating that the
Ministry of Justice must show interest and understanding for community concerns
regarding crime. It should recognize that sometimes it fails in providing the most
effective solutions and realize that crime emerges within communities and,
undoubtedly, the responsibility as well as resources should also be shared with these
communities. Therefore, the government should offer support to the community and
their local services in finding solutions to social problems.
It is also very important to highlight the cooperation between the probation
services in Europe and the NGO spectrum and volunteers. For example, the Dutch
14
15

FDSC www.fdsc.ro/pagini/societatea-civila.php, accessed on May 3rd, 2010.

GO 26 / 2000 regarding associations and foundations in Romania

50

Probation Service is defined as a foundation. It is an example of a probation

prototype that works. On one hand, it is part of the Ministry of Justice and receives
funds from it, and on the other hand it conducts itself as a NGO with its own
management structure and its Leadership Council. (Ploeg 1st Book, Chapter 4,
Netherlands in Van Kalmthout ed. 2004, p 132)
If a criminal justice institution wants to be more involved in a community in
order to succeed in its mission, and vice versa, the community more present in the
criminal justice sphere, then both parties should re-configure their status-roles. They
need to partner up and they need to split responsibilities and resources. Once the
NGOs show their effectiveness in this regard, they will also need assurance of a selfsustainable partnership. Usually NGOs are self-funded through accessing timelimited grants for specific and potentially successful projects. Once these projects
end, the funding also ends. Governmental institutions, on the other hand, receive
public money continuously, regardless of their efficiency. Reason why it is important
for NGOs to become long-term partners with the criminal justice institutions and
have equal access to resources. We are at a turning point that requires recognition of
a new set of social actors in key positions in the community who can intervene in the
criminal justice system. Durkheim (2002) mentioned that in a social reality 1+1 is
always more than 2, because when two individuals or two institutions partner up,
they are always more valuable than two parties taken individually.
The Romanian NGO sector after 20 years from the fall of communism
After twenty years since democracy was installed in Romania, we still have a
civil society with little visibility. Based on a study (FDSC, 2010) about the civil
society in Romania we know that over the territory of this country there are
registered approximately 62,000 organizations, from which over 21,000 are active.
These active organizations run exclusively on voluntary work in 68 percent of the
cases. By 2008, 67% of NGOs either did no have any source of funding or had very
little income. In these conditions, these NGOs represent 49% of accredited providers
of social services.

51

Once Romania became member of the European Union in 2007, some of the
NGOs started to adhere to international structures. Around 18% of Romanian NGOs
form national structures, 13% of them participate to European networks, and 10% are
affiliated to international bodies. But while the prospects are very promising, the
Romanian NGO spectrum needs help to grow.
Therefore, the NGOs show enormous potential considering that they are
based mostly on voluntary work but deliver half of all accredited social services in
Romania.
Research
The aim of this study is to understand how NGOs can become facilitators of
change in and alongside prisons and probation. For this reason I want to answer if the
criminal justice system could be improved by the intervention of NGOs, and how
these NGOs management should look like in order to facilitate change in the
criminal justice system?
This study presents two perspectives, one of the social actors of the
institutions directly involved in the process of rehabilitation and reintegration of
offenders, and the other one of the community, which is an indirect recipient of the
rehabilitation and reintegration programs developed for offenders, and this is
because offenders eventually return to their communities. And so, for an exhaustive
approach to the subject discussed here, I considered important to include the
communitys perspective. In this context, two inquiries were launched with two
separate methodologies and I will refer to them as follows:
1. Primary research the perspective of the leaders of the organizations directly
involved in the process of rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders;
2. Secondary Research community perspective.

52

Primary research
Methodological framework
This qualitative study was based on interviews and focus groups. It was
conducted in May 2010, in four major university centers in Romania (Timioara,
Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Iai), where I met renowned academics, large NGOs
leaders, criminal justice leaders, community volunteers, and offenders from both
prison and probation systems. (Table 1)
For the offenders I used focus groups, while for the rest of respondents I used
individual interviews. The reason for which I chose focus groups for offenders is that
I started from the premise that multiple perspectives embedded in a single context
will be more useful for this research. While offenders live in groups in the same
context, I found it to be more relevant to run focus groups with them than interview
them individually. And I run One2One interviews in order to generate more in-depth
information with those working with and for offenders.
Table 1
Respondents by category
Category
Academics

Institutions Leaders

NGOs Leaders

Volunteers
Beneficiaries

Name and Surname

Dr. Doina Balahur
Dr. Gheorghe Florian
Dr. Mihaela Tomi
Dr. Petronel Dobric
Dr. Sorina Poledna
Dr. tefan Buzrnescu
Dr. Vasile Miftode
Gabriel Oancea
Ioan Bla
Iuliana Crbunaru
Mihaela Luminia Medele
Carmen Fiscuci
Ctlin Luca
Horea Nistor
Mihai Popescu
Nicoleta Andreescu Marian
Andra Glvan
Emilia Scheul
Group of five youngsters
Group of nine adults
Group of ten offenders

53

Status
PhD Professor UAIC
PhD Associate Professor UB and UH
PhD Lecturer UVT
PhD Associate Professor UB
PhD Associate Professor UBB
PhD Professor UVT
PhD Professor UAIC
Chief of the Bucharest Probation Service
General Director, ANP
Director, The Direction of Probation, MJ
Deputy Director, Rahova Prison
Programs Coordinator, PFR
Executive Director, AAS
Psychologist, Rescue Foundation
President, GRADO
Expert, APADOR-CH
Jilava Prison
Bucharest Probation Service
Rahova Prison
Jilava Prison
Bucharest Probation Service

For each category I used a specific interview guide, but the areas of
explorations were similar. Please note that there were respondents who answered to
our inquiry and agreed to record the interview (14 respondents), while others did not
wish to be recorded (two respondents), or I failed to record because of technical
reasons (two respondents). But unrecorded interviews were reproduced later. Also,
there was another category of respondents who, due to certain circumstances,
preferred to respond by email (three respondents). I also mention here that there
were potential respondents who were approached for this study but who did not want
to participate (one respondent), or were not available during the collection of data
(one future respondent).
Data analysis
The analysis includes a series of areas of explorations, as it can bee seen in
the table below, in order to answer the research questions. For the purpose of this
research report, I have only included the responses that were repetitive, and so that
seem to express the general opinion about the issue discussed here.
Table 2
Data analysis of the primary research based on a set of areas of exploration
NGO

Must have

Federation
Complementarities
Funding
Community

Dr. Buzrnescu Alternative pragmatism, resolution to the same set of problems that the
government cannot solve; As in mathematics, we have social problems and they should be put
in a managerial equation in order to find solutions. NGOs can constitute a guide for civil society
to teach them how to put problems in a managerial equation
Dr. Poledna Until 2000 there was the team working in the community and this team is very
important, it is inclusive; and it needs to be a collaboration with NGOs
Dr. Tomi a real reform cannot be done without the help of NGOs
Mr. Popescu There is not a union type structure, such as a federation or confederation; a
pyramidal structure that does not exist and which makes each NGO to act individually
Dr. Poledna NGOs should somehow help professionals in prisons and probation to keep their
standards of professionalism; that is why they must cooperate. You are not better because the
other one is weak. You are all better because you cooperate.
Ms. Emilia NGOs must have some sponsorship behind, something that would help implement
these programs somehow, on long term
Mrs. Crbunaru I have seen some reluctance from other institutions collaborating with civil
society bodies because they dealt with NGOs that were only interested in self-sustainability but
nothing more. And although NGOs are non-for-profit, some of them aim to a certain status of
wealth.

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Public utility

Social
entrepreneurship
Prison
and
Probation

System

Evaluation
Staff
Programs

Community
ONG
prototype

Local NGOs
Team
Creativity

Structured
volunteering

Collaboration

Mrs. Marian To whom it is given 2%?16

Mr. Popescu It would be normal for NGOs to become of public utility, but the law needs to be
clearer; the government can have a representative; lets say he / she is a member of the board of
directors and monitors how public funds are used and evaluate the impact of social services
implemented by these organizations of public utility
Dr. Buzrnescu Social Entrepreneurship! So this is it, to take under contract one big social
problem - unemployment for example; the unemployment is taken by NGOs under contract and
they find the solution for it. Once NGOs become real solutions seekers, they will be taken
seriously by the wider community!
Mr. Bla The presence of others is also an institutional balancing factor, because always when
a guest comes you are more careful, you put what you have best on the table, you clean
frequently... (laughs). Yes, why should we lie about it?
Mr. Oancea I think that probation is sprightly throughout the world because of the activities
they carry out; the people with whom probation services collaborate make the system more
dynamic
Dr. Buzrnescu As it does concern us, most of the shortcomings are exogenous of probation
system; they come from the global social space and other related institutions
Dr. Poledna The programs are not evaluated, no one knows what their effectiveness is
Mrs. Marian They are few, are unprepared; even if they want to do something about those
who are prepared, they have nothing in regard to resources
Mrs. Crbunaru Assisting offenders is a priority for us and we want to train all our probation
officers in this regard, but I do not know to what extent we can succeed this in the following
year; it is necessary to have specialists in One2One motivational interviews for example
Mr. Oancea Programs should be delivered in time, address specific needs, and probation
officers intervention should not be lets talk to talk, but focused on offenders problems that
made them broke the law
Jilava offenders Here is my colleague who helps other prisoners to relax their minds, and go
to the gym and focus on something else, other that time in prison
Mrs. Marian Prison for example can buy social services from NGOs
Dr. Buzrnescu In the collective mental there is a disabling Stalinism according to which
NGOs should not receive too much authority because it is perceived by some people as
interfering in the governments activity, and this stereotype is practiced for decades
Mrs. Crbunaru There are poles in which NGOs are well represented, see Iai, Cluj,
Timioara, Bucharest, like universities, and counties where the NGO sector is very poorly
represented or even absent
Dr. Tomi Those who work in NGOs must be well prepared, otherwise things can go
downhill, especially in this field of criminal justice where you can go wrong easily
Dr. Buzrnescu The NGO itself is a solution to a social problem; One source, sociologically
speaking, to restore confidence in people and to explore alternatives, including economic
development and solve some problems through services
Mr. Bla Open minded people, with a keen interest in their field, with human resources, and
sometimes with material resources are an enormous contribution to our work
Dr. Poledna Also volunteers can be used, whom we train before, but not in a sensationalist
way; we shape them in time because we know what we shape them for...
Jilava offenders It would be great if they allow us do voluntary work, to go out of prison and
make amends...
Mr. Bla Volunteering is not someone's prerogative, we can all be volunteers and must be
volunteers
Dr. Poledna Solutions lie in collaboration, and local, personal, professional, regional,
institutional pride should not exist because otherwise we will all lose

16

Romanian citizens have the right to direct 2% from their taxes to an organization of their choosing.
But some bigger organizations have money to invest in promotional materials, which persuade
citizens to give money to a specific organization, while smaller organizations struggle to convince
people that their work is important and it needs public money support.

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The intervention of NGOs can make a difference in the sphere of justice, but
it should not be understood as a form of saving the criminal justice system, rather
understood as a form of partnership. NGOs can be resourceful and can be
alternatives to governmental solutions that do not work.
When I have examined these areas of exploration for the first study, the only
disadvantage NGOs may face, which could threaten its existence and thus its status
as a facilitator of change, was linked to funding, while the benefits are undeniably
more substantial. If we look closer, we deduce that the issue of funding is defined in
a limited time and space, while the advantages such as enthusiasm, creativity, or
energy is unlimited in time and space. Moreover, funding has external origins, while
aspects such as creativity or energy are internal.
And if NGOs have the internal assets they could generate their own funding
by applying for grants, by developing social business ideas, by becoming of public
utility, by setting up companies that could make profit within their non-for-profits, or
by accessing community money as religious NGOs do.
Moreover, funding was not mentioned by any of the respondents as core
attribute of an ideal NGO prototype. In contrary, the respondents mentioned that the
attributes that define the perfect prototype of a non-governmental body able to
bringing change in the criminal justice system are related to factors such as
efficiency, motivation and a keen interest in the criminal justice.
As I sought in this study, I highlight here some of the possible solutions of the
civil societys intervention in the criminal justice system. One of these solutions is
related to collaboration. Building on Durkheim's assumption, namely that 1+1 = >2,
we infer that through the simple presence of an NGO in partnership with a criminal
justice institution we could have the premises of an intervention, which could
produce results and multiply them. It could also generate multi-disciplinary and
inter-disciplinary teams.
The ideal form of bringing effective change in the criminal justice system by
NGOs seems to be through federation, confederation or other similar bodies, which
could offer more structuralism to the movement of civil society. As well, a structural
volunteering mechanism through which programs and activities are conducted could

56

help link the rehabilitation programs with the reintegration ones, and ensure they
multiply at national level.
In some Western countries the public-private partnership is working. Why
would it not work in Romania, as well? Even if the civil society in this country is
young, it is also very active and adaptable.
Secondary research
Methodological framework
For the second study I used a quantitative approach and applied an online
survey. The semi-structured questionnaire sought to answer the same areas of
exploration used in the primary research. The questionnaire was uploaded online on
99 discussion groups of students from Romanian faculty departments such as
sociology, social work, psychology, pedagogy, law, deviance and criminology. I
chose to approach this category of respondents because they are educated in regard to
the criminal justice system compared to the general public who might not know
specificities approached in this study. Since on these discussion groups are logged
approximately 30,000 individuals and I gave sufficient time for answering, I
estimated to receive a relatively large number of answered questionnaires. However,
that was not the case. I have collected only 31 questionnaires, and for this reason I
have decided to use them as an additional data to the primary research. I have also
focused more on the opened questions, thus making a qualitative analysis.
The sampling for the primary research was directly addressing leaders from
the academia, NGOs, criminal justice system, and volunteers and offenders, and so I
made direct contact with a number of them. While for this research, everyone from
the selected discussion groups had an equal chance of being a respondent by using a
simple random sampling method.
Data analysis
This data analysis and interpretation will focus on the same areas of
exploration used in the primary research, and, again, I have analyzed the answers that
were repetitive.
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Table 3
Respondents status
Variables
Age

Sex
Occupation

NGO

NGO on justice

Value
18 - 25
26 - 30
31 - 35
36 - 40
Feminine
Masculine
Student
Worker
Other
Yes, volunteer
Yes, employed
No
Yes
No

Frequency
21
6
2
2
25
6
20
9
2
20
5
6
5
26

Percent
67,7%
19,4%
6,5%
6,5%
80,6%
19,4%
64,5%
29%
6,5%
64,5%
16,1%
19,4%
16,1%
83,9%

As we can see in table three, the majority of the respondents are between 18
to 25 years old. And most of the respondents are females, students, and volunteer.
Graph 1

Almost half of the respondents considered that NGOs can facilitate change in
the criminal justice system, while another approximately half of them did not know
for certain if the civil society can produce any form of change. Only 10% of
respondents answered that NGOs cannot bring change in prisons and probation.

58

Graph 2

Interestingly enough, over half of respondents of community members

considered that prisons need to change their strategy in regard to their rehabilitation
and reintegration programs. We understand from here that these respondents do not
consider the prison system being efficient in their work for this issue. The
respondents were not so drastic when it came to evaluating the probation system and
the NGOs for the same issue. Almost 20% of respondents said that the probation
system needs to change its approach, and over 16% of them answered the same in
what concerns NGOs. From these three organizations, the NGOs seem to receive the
best credit for their work. Almost 26% of respondents considered that NGOs dont
need to do anything differently in their activity of working with offenders, while only
7% and 10% said the same about prison, and respectively probation.
Graph 3

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In the same order of ideas, 64% of respondents considered that NGOs do a

very good and good job in rehabilitating offenders, while only 16% and 35% of them
considered the same about prison, respectively probation. In opposition, the prison
system seems to be the one doing the worse job (45.2%) in rehabilitating offenders,
according to respondents.
Graph 4

Again, NGOs are considered doing a very good and good job in reintegrating
offenders (55%), followed by the probation system with 35.5%, and the prison
system with 6.5% percent. The prison system seems to be doing, again, the worst job
in reintegrating offenders (58%), while only 13% and 10% of respondents considered
the probation system, and respectively the NGOs to be inefficient in this regard. This
can be the case because prisons job finishes once offenders are released, and the
recidivism rate is usually seen a fault of the prison system.

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Graph 5

When looking at the most important attributes of NGOs as entities able to

bring change in and alongside the criminal justice system, the activities, the actual
work of an NGO, seem to be the most important factor. The activities are followed
by funding, internal communication, volunteering work, leadership, PR and
networking, and social entrepreneurship initiatives. Normally, the work of an
organization is the most visible one, and organizations are usually evaluated by what
they produce, the work, and this might be the reason why respondents chose projects
being the most important aspect in the management of an NGO when considered
efficient in the criminal justice sphere.
Table 4
Data analysis of the secondary research based on a set of areas of exploration
NGO

Changing
mentality

Rehabilitation
and
reintegration
Volunteering

NGOs must fight to change the general mentality regarding former offenders (1)
NGOs seek to change public perception regarding offenders and support community
involvement in activities undertaken in prison and probation. Also, identify viable forms of
partnerships with institutions in the field (11)
NGOs can facilitate access to employment, counseling for a successful reintegration into
community (3)
Partnerships with various companies in order to hire former offenders. Lobbying for
offenders. (12)
Provide active volunteers who can develop services such as evaluating the quality of
reintegration programs for former offenders (2)
More professionalism; providing feedback to the volunteers; deliver specific trainings for each
program that volunteers work on (6)

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Prison
and
Probation

Cooperation
with
institutions
Activities

Cooperation
with the
community

Specialists

NGO
prototype

Volunteering

Lobbying

News

Active collaboration with prisons, and the constant communication with them; creating a
common database for prisons about, lets say, the length of the sentence, time till release,
personal aspects of offenders life etc. (3)
Several training programs for prisoners; a different attitude of employers towards prisoners; a
greater involvement of offenders in the educational programs and other activities, such as
cultural activities and sports. (17)
Assisting offenders in their process of rehabilitation and reintegration should be compulsory
(20)
Cases of offenders who are about to being released should be sent to NGOs that could help
these people reintegrate (2)
Given the prerequisites of a socio-economical nature, that we cannot ignore, any change should
facilitate and support the societys involvement, through NGOs, in activities that otherwise
could not be implemented (11)
Since there is a large volume of work that probation officers have to take, I believe it would be
efficient if trained volunteers (potential future probation officers) would be given more support
in working with offenders (21)
Improving the number of staff, of social workers, psychologists, and educators, will bring
changes in the quality of services provided for offenders; The social workers observations in
the court should be taken into consideration when a judge decides the sentence length and
conviction type, because the sole purpose is to rehabilitate and reintegrate, and hearing a
specialists perspective could help achieve just that. (2)
Avoiding generalizations; interventions should be individual on each case, rather than on a
group of similar cases; more staff to carry out the assist and befriend type of intervention.
(12)
First (volunteers) they are a welcome aid to employees, they have fresh ideas and they are not
trapped in the daily routine, they can look from outside and observe certain problems that the
insiders do not see. They are, perhaps, more open and more willing to engage in certain
programs that can be a challenge even for the staff in the field of justice. (6)
NGOs could bring change through lobbying activities, through viable strategies in order to
involve policy makers, through convincing society that acting locally (at community level) is
important, through the collaboration between law makers and social actors in order to create
laws that serve people. (12)
NGOs could reduce the workload of probation officers and prison costs, and equally could
prevent prison overcrowding with little criminals. (20)
NGOs could sensitize law enforcement regarding the factors that lead to crime; increase
awareness of issues / social factors that lead to crime; participate in the collaboration between
offenders and law enforcement. (2)

This study highlights the solutions that NGOs can provide to the criminal
justice system. Furthermore, as one respondent mentioned the work for social
reintegration of an offender begins with his / her entry in prison, with the first
contact with the supervisor, continued by the work of educators and psychologists in
prison, and the reintegration should be continued after release, as well. (9) This
reintegration takes place in the community where NGOs are. They are a viable
solution in this regard and they should be capacitated.
From the frequencies analyzed we observe the inclination of respondents to
appreciate the work of NGOs in the process of rehabilitation and social reintegration
of offenders, detrimental to the prison and probation systems. Also, analyzing these

62

areas of exploration we conclude the same predisposition. There is a number of

directives that NGOs should follow in order to succeed within the criminal justice
system, such as lobbying in community, delivering rehabilitation and reintegration
programs for offenders, and developing a structured volunteering platform in
conjunction with third parties. If the criminal justice system fails to deliver the
outcomes we, as society, expect, NGOs could be asked to help, to work alongside or
even take over if public institutions, for various reasons, fail to deliver.
I wanted to understand if the criminal justice system could be improved by
the intervention of NGOs, and for this secondary research, as shown in the primary
study as well, I conclude that NGOs could bring an invaluable advantage to the work
of prisons and probation. Moreover, I underline guidelines that could make NGOs
contribution relevant and measurable.
For the second research question, about how the management of an NGO
should look like in order to facilitate change in the criminal justice system, I
conclude that constant activities, qualified personnel, the intense networking with
other community members alongside public institution are a great asset for a solid
NGO management.
Furthermore, as shown in the last graph of the secondary study, regarding the
importance of different attributes that form a solid management, the activities and the
funding for them seem to be the most crucial aspects of an NGO. In other words,
NGOs work defines its relevance in the criminal justice system. Funding only helps
to sustain the work, but the work itself is crucial. I concluded this aspect in the
primary study, as well. The other components mentioned so far, such as PR,
networking, team or internal communication are relevant in the light of efficient
projects.
The importance of a permanent NGO presence in the field of criminal justice
must be understood in the context of partnerships with institutional actors. Dr.
Poledna mentioned that solutions rely on collaboration and in its absence success
is doomed to failure.

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Instead of conclusions
In order for NGOs to be a solid solution to the criminal justice system they
need to aim toward becoming of public utility and sell their services to public
institutions. They should equally invest in social entrepreneurship ideas that could
help add a business perspective to their work while focusing on social issues.
Additionally, they could create companies / firms for-profit within their non-forprofits. Also, they should associate with personalities and celebrities in order to gain
visibility of their work. Moreover, applying for grants on both social
entrepreneurship and criminal justice is not just in their own survival benefit, having
more chances to funding, but also seen as a more creative way of working. In doing
so, NGOs could expand their projects beyond the criminal justice system.
Furthermore, having a multi / inter-disciplinary team or partner with other
organizations that have trained personnel in other areas of expertize and can help in
their general work. Becoming part of bigger and more complex organisms, such as
federations and confederations, could help them being taken more seriously and have
a more consolidated intervention. Collaboration in itself is a solution to the criminal
justice system. Nonetheless, developing a volunteering platform in the criminal
justice system could help sustain the work, while multiplying it regionally and
nationally.
References
Durkheim, E., 2002, Regulile metodei sociologice, trad. Lungu, D. Bucharest:
Polirom Publishing.
Faulkner, D., 2008, The new shape of probation in England and Wales: Values and
opportunities in a changing context in Probation Journal, vol. 55 (1), Sage
Publications Publisher, pp 71-83.
Plowden, W., 2003, The compact: Attempts to regulate relationships between
government and the voluntary sector in England in Nonprofit and Voluntary
Sectro Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 3, Sage Publications Publisher, pp 415-438.

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Fundaia pentru Dezvoltarea Societii Civile 2010, Romnia 2010. Sectorul

neguvernamental. Profil, tendine, provocri. Rezumat. FDSC.
Van Kalmthout, A. ed., 2004, Reintegrarea social i supravegherea infractorilor n
opt ri europene, trans. Durnescu, I. Craiova: Sitech.
*** OG 26 / 2000 regarding the associations and foundations in Romania.

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