Mitchell Institute Fellow: Legacy, Dr Allely Albert, has recently published an article in the British Journal of Criminology exploring community perceptions of legitimacy in relation to Community Restorative Justice Ireland (CRJI).  Although restorative justice organisations in Northern Ireland have largely become integral parts of the post-conflict landscape, they faced substantial challenges in terms of their local respectability during their initial development.

Previous research has examined state efforts to delegitimise community restorative justice schemes, but this article, entitled ‘Hug-a-hoods’, ‘Ra Men’ and ‘Touts’: Legitimizing Restorative Justice to the Community in Northern Ireland turns its focus specifically to the community and the local criticism levied against CRJI.  The study traces the primary critiques faced by the organisation and the techniques it used to overcome them, building legitimacy and respectability from below, and offering a history that provides broader lessons for non-state actors seeking to establish organisational credibility.

Read the article here.

Dr Allely Albert

Allely Albert is a Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work and a Legacy Fellow at the Mitchell Institute, Queen’s University Belfast.

Her research broadly focuses on community-based approaches to safety, justice, and peacebuilding. Allely's current research explores 'everyday security' in communities across the Island of Ireland, highlighting local agency and bottom-up contributions to safety landscapes.  Her past research has examined ex-prisoner involvement in community-based restorative justice efforts in Northern Ireland and the United States, analysing the impact of ex-prisoner leadership on the micro-dynamics of restorative processes and the mechanisms involved in wider societal peacebuilding.