Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Psychology

Advisor

Brett G. Stoudt

Advisor

Michelle Fine

Committee Members

Alisa Del Tufo

Sukhmani Singh

María Elena Torre

Subject Categories

Criminology and Criminal Justice | Politics and Social Change | Psychology | Social Justice | Sociology

Keywords

community, restorative justice, diversion, governance, boundary work

Abstract

Community is invoked as a foundational concept in restorative justice (RJ) discourse, yet its meaning is rarely examined as an object of analysis. This dissertation asks: how is "community" imagined, enacted, and mobilized in community-held restorative justice diversion (RJD) programs, and what do these enactments reveal about the possibilities and limits of RJD as an anti-racist, anti-carceral reform? Drawing on a qualitative study across nine U.S. counties, I employ semi-structured ethnographic interviews with 48 participants, including RJD practitioners and legal-system partners. Guided by the rhetorical concept of the ideograph, the study treats community as a contested political and moral term whose meanings shape program governance, eligibility criteria, referral practices, and legal systems engagement with community-based organizations. Findings reveal that community performs dual and contradictory functions: expanding care and accountability toward those most harmed by racialized criminalization, while serving as a protective boundary against co-optation. Participants distinguished being in community with legal system actors and being in relationship with them—central to sustaining community ownership under operational entanglement. A persistent alignment problem emerged: rhetorical commitment to racial equity coexists with governance arrangements that reproduce racialized gatekeeping and shift labor onto BIPOC-led organizations. Programmatic elements aimed to preserve RJ centricity against legal system capture; however, treating RJD as a dumping ground pulled CBOs across competing, albeit overlapping, demands. Practitioners framed RJD not merely as diversion, but as one strand within a broader project of community capacity-building, structural struggle, and cultural transformation. I conclude with implications for program design, policy, and future scholarship.

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