N A T I O N A L I S S U E S F O R U M S

NATIONALISSUESFORUMS

M O D E R A T O R G U I D E

September 2001

or the two decades leading into the turn of the century, the United States imprisoned menand women for longer periods and at steadily increasing rates. Today, more than two millioninmates are held in state and federal prisons, and more than 600,000 are expected to bereleased each year on parole or after having served their entire sentences.

The rapid and sustained escalation in the use of prisons began in response to rising crimes princi-pally associated with drug use and trafficking in the 1970s. But the incarceration rate continued toclimb through the 1990s while crime rates were falling to near-record lows. This book is designedto facilitate public deliberation about how we, as a society, should respond to those who break thelaw. It aims to help us find a common ground for action on the conflicting approaches that guidecriminal justice system policy development. Some similar concerns surface in the different choices,but each approach embodies a unique set of values that citizens hold deeply. The insights thatemerge from this deliberation will be found in the tensions in and between these approaches to theage-old issue of crime and punishment.

APPROACH 1: Protecting Society through Tough EnforcementSwift, sure punishment sends the best message: Crime does not pay. This approach hasresulted in a declining crime rate and should be continued with even tougher measures.In this view, each filled cell is a welcome sign that an era of clear rules, individualaccountability, and severe punishment is the way to go.

APPROACH 2 : Using Our Crime-Fighting Tools More WiselyOur response to crime needs to be tough but fair. Measures that are too rigid under-mine the effectiveness of the entire system. Society should not sink to the level of crimi-nals just to show that it can be tough. In this view, we can use our resources moreeffectively by focusing on the repeat and violent predators and giving judges more dis-cretion in sentencing.

APPROACH 3: Reclaiming Lives through Prevention and RehabilitationPeople can reform if given a second chance. Most prisoners return to society so our jus-tice system should reflect the wisdom of having them come back as productive citizens.In this view, the current system needlessly wastes lives that could be salvaged throughrehabilitation, job training, education, alternative sentences, and treatment for drug andalcohol dependency.

F

Crime and PunishmentIs Justice BeingServed?

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If you’re preparing to moderate a NationalIssues Forum, then you’ve become familiar withthe structure of deliberative dialogue that NIFsupports. Discussion guides, starter tapes, anddeliberative forums focus on approaches, some-times also called “choices” in NIF material.

And you know that each approach represents adistinctly different way of approaching an issue,with its own set of benefits, drawbacks, andtrade-offs.

This structure undergirds the basic premise ofpublic deliberation — that citizens in a democ-racy have a responsibility, and need opportuni-ties, to make choices about how they want tolive together, how they want to act together, howthey want their government to function.

If this is your first experience as a moderator:

You don’t have to be an expert on the issue. Reading the issue book thoroughly, considering questions that get to the heart of the issue,and thinking through the essence of each choice is the critical part of preparation.

Stay focused on what the forum is about — deliberation.Your natural curiosity and your interest in understanding diverse views will be your great-est assets; they’re probably what got you here in the first place. So use them to ask ques-tions that probe the underlying motivations of each choice, the trade-offs it might require,and the willingness of the participants to recognize them.

Keep the discussion moving and focused on the issue.No matter the level of experience, most moderators find timekeeping to be a challenge.National Issues Forums examine complicated issues, worthy of deep discussion. Sometimesit’s hard to move on to another approach with so much more that could be said. But inorder to deliberate — to really make progress on the issue — participants need the opportu-nity to weigh all the major approaches.

Reserve ample time for reflections on the forum.Between allowing time for participants to lay out their personal concerns about the issue atthe beginning of the forum and the demanding work of deliberating in depth on each of thechoices, it’s easy to find yourself with little time left at the end of the forum to reflect onwhat’s been said. But, in many ways, this is the most important work the group will do — ifthey have time to do it. Explain clearly at the outset that it is important to reserve this time,and then enlist the participants’ support in working with you to preserve it.

Sometimes, forum participants find these usesof the word “choice” confusing. Some assumethat they are being asked to choose one of theapproaches. And, of course, they are not.

Many moderators find it helpful to clarify, at the beginning of the forum, that the work of the forum is to weigh each approach, to “workthrough” consequences and trade-offs, and toform a shared sense of what’s at stake in theissue. They make it clear that by developingshared directions for public action, forum par-ticipants are laying the foundation for makingpublic choices together.

Approaches and Choices; Choice Work, and NIF

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• to provide an overview of the process of delib-eration — the rationale for the kind of workthe participants are getting ready to do.

• to ask questions that probe deeply into what’sat stake in the issue and in each choice.

• to encourage participants to direct theirresponses and questions toward one another.

• to remain neutral throughout the discussion,while encouraging participants to explore allfacets of their own and others’ opinions.

• to keep track of the time, so participants canmove through a discussion of each of themajor approaches and into an ending periodof reflections.

Your Role as a Moderator:

The Role of the Recorder:

Many NIF convenors choose to organize singleforums around issues of concern in their com-munities. Most single forums last two- to two-and-one-half hours.

Many others, however, arrange multiple sessions(study circles) to allow participants greateropportunities to examine issues in depth. Somegroups set aside time for two meetings; othersmight devote a separate session for each choice.And some plan ahead of time for a session afterthe forum to come back together to considernext steps.

Some communities begin their examination of anissue in a large group forum and then break offinto smaller groups for subsequent sessions. Thereverse also can be helpful — starting in smallgroups and culminating in a larger communityforum.

National Issues Forums is about encouragingpublic deliberation. The needs of your communi-ty will drive the schedule in which deliberationcan best occur.

Forums or Study Circles — or Both?

• to help inform other members of the community about the outcomes of the deliberation.

• to capture the tensions, trade-offs, and common ground for action.

• to express main ideas in clearly written brief phrases.

• to support deliberation by reminding forumparticipants of their key concerns, the areasof greatest disagreement, and the benefits andtrade-offs their discussion highlighted.

• to serve as a written record of the group’swork that might feed into future meetings ofthe group or additional forums.

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At the beginning of deliberative discussion, mostmoderators review these guidelines with partici-pants. (A free poster with these guidelines is avail-able to use in your forum. You may request a copyby calling 800-600-4060.)

The moderator will guide the discussion yet remainneutral. The moderator will make sure that —

• Everyone is encouraged to participate.

Guidelines for National IssuesForums and Study Circles

• No one or two individuals dominate.

• The discussion will focus on the choices.

• All the major choices or positions on the issueare considered.

• An atmosphere for discussion and analysis ofthe alternatives is maintained.

• We listen to each other.

Pre- and Post-Forum Questionnaires play animportant role in your local forum — and in thenational NIF network.

The Pre-Forum Questionnaire helps participantsdirect their thinking to the complexities of theissue, to take an assessment of the views they willbring to the discussion. Its structure focuses onwhat is at stake in the issue and what trade-offsmight be involved.

The Post-Forum Questionnaire also serves multiplepurposes. It gives participants an opportunity toreconsider their views in light of the experiencethey have just had. It gives them an opportunity toadd to what they said or heard in the forum.

The questionnaires also serve a vital role outside ofthe forum. As a means of capturing what happenedin the forum, they provide information that can beused to communicate participants’ views to others— to officeholders, to the media, to other citizens.

The importance of the questionnaires

Nationally, a report on the outcomes of the forumson a given issue is produced each year, based onextensive interviews with moderators and the ques-tionnaires that forums generate. Some communitiesuse questionnaires as part of reports on the out-comes of local forums.

So it is very important that you, as the forummoderator, take a few minutes to gather andreturn the questionnaires to the National IssuesForums Institute. Please include the moderatorresponse sheet on page 12 with your contactinformation so that follow-up for the nationalreport is possible.

Return the completed Pre- and Post-ForumQuestionnaires to:

National Issues Forums Research100 Commons RoadDayton, Ohio 45459-2777

Communicating about your forums

Another important role of the moderator is to communicate with the NIF network about the forums you are conducting in your communities. Please post the dates and locations of your forums by E-mail at forums@nifi.org.

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Crime and Punishment: Is Justice Being Served?Questions to PromoteDeliberation of the IssueThis issue lends itself to storytelling. Many people have been victimized by crime orknow someone who has. Prisoners themselves often advocate tough punishmentsfor offenders. And victims frequently change their views about consequences whensomeone close to them is the perpetrator of the crime. Emotions weigh heavily onthe scales of justice, so the moderator needs to be sensitive, yet probing at thesame time. Here are some questions that might be useful:

Approach 1: Protecting Society through Tough Enforcement

• How can we ensure that tough enforcement isn’t meted out just to the socially and economically disadvantaged?

• Are we spending too much on prisons and not enough on providing schooling and job training for our youth?

• How do plea bargains fit into a just system?

• Are prisons breeding grounds for violence and a finishing school for criminals?

Approach 2: Using Our Crime-Fighting Tools More Wisely

• How much discretion should judges have in determining sentences?

• What can police do to build trust and support in minority communities?

• Is parole supervision a viable tool?

• Should we legalize marijuana?

Approach 3: Reclaiming Lives through Prevention and Rehabilitation

• Is it more important for prisons to punish or rehabilitate? Why?

• Should we deny job training and education to prisoners so citizens won’t feel as if inmates are getting something they don’t have?

• Should we eliminate the death penalty if life without the possibility of parole is asentencing option?

• Should we abolish counterproductive sentencing and give probation with mandatory drug treatment?

Crime and Punishment: Is Justice Being Served?

CCoommppaarriinngg tthhApproach 1hat should be the priorities

of the criminal justice sys-

tem? How do we promote

safety while protecting individual

rights? To help citizens consider

these questions, this discussion

guide breaks the issue of crime and

punishment down to some funda-

mental public policy perspectives, or

approaches. Each is based on views

and priorities voiced by many

Americans in surveys and studies.

Each approach also provides a direc-

tion for public action, or a way to

tackle the issue. These approaches

include ideas and proposals that are

drawn from across the political spec-

trum. Some elements of the

approaches are readily mixed, but

not others, as each approach has its

own priorities and agenda. An out-

line of the three approaches

appears on these pages.

Protecting Society through Tough EnforcementThe growth in America’s prison population in the 1990s hasbeen matched with a steady drop in crime. We will send astrong message about the public’s intolerance for crime if wecontinue to toughen our laws.

What Can Be Done? • Expand mandatory sentencing laws and build enough

prisons to remove dangerous criminals from society.

• Change laws so that any juveniles who commit adultcrimes can be tried as adults, at the prosecutor’sdiscretion.

• Pass a victims’ rights amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Benefits• Punishment that is swift, severe, and sure deters

crime, protects the law-abiding.

• Our justice system is horribly skewed, exalting therights of the defendants at the expense of victims.

• Adult crimes warrant adult sentences, regardless of the age of the offender.

Drawbacks• You can’t incarcerate your way out of a crime

problem. At some point, you have to address theunderlying social issues.

• Mandatory sentencing laws fill prisons withnonviolent, low-risk offenders who don’t belong there.

• Inmates now leave prison more prone to commit crimethan when they went in. Rehabilitation gives them achance to lead a productive life.

A Likely Trade-off?• The emphasis on incarceration is costly and also

means that money needed to build and maintainprisons won’t be available for other public programs.

W

hhee AApppprrooaacchheessApproach 2 Approach 3

Using Our Crime-Fighting Tools More WiselyThe tenets behind our criminal justice system are sound, but some of our crime-fighting techniques are counter-productive. We need to make adjustments to ensure the system is effective and fair.

What Can Be Done?• Stop filling up prisons and jails with nonviolent

drug offenders. Provide judges with more discretion in sentencing.

• Invest more funds to hire officers, purchasenecessary equipment, and implement innovative lawenforcement techniques.

• Bar racial profiling and other law enforcementpractices that damage the sense of trust in police.

Benefits• Crime-fighting dollars are limited. Spending more

to hire and equip police is the most efficient way to prevent crime.

• Mandatory sentencing laws deprive judges ofdiscretion, leading to excessive penalties for minoroffenses.

• Race-based policing practices undermine minoritycommunities’ trust in the police and the courts.

Drawbacks• “Three strikes” laws put an end to “revolving door”

justice. The release of repeat offenders enragescitizens and puts the public at risk.

• Drug use isn’t a victimless crime. We shouldn’t automatically release petty criminals who will prey on communities to feed their habits.

• Minority communities have a higher rate of crimebecause of poverty. They demand, and deserve, adequate police protection.

A Likely Trade-off?• By eliminating mandatory sentencing, two people

committing the same offense could get completelydifferent sentences.

Reclaiming Lives through Prevention andRehabilitationPeople have the capacity to reform if given a second

chance. The current system needlessly throws away lives

that could be salvaged through rehabilitation, alternative

sentences, and treatment for drug abuse.

What Can Be Done? • Make prisons more humane to prepare inmates for

release, so they can avoid crime and be productivecitizens.

• Give judges discretion to tailor punishments to fitthe crime, the individual, and society’s long-terminterests.

• Stop putting 13- and 14-year-olds in jail. Givejuvenile offenders the services they need, likeeducation and counseling, to turn their livesaround.

Benefits• America’s experiment in building and filling prisons

is a policy chasing its own tail. Every year thenation’s prisons disgorge nearly as many as theytake in.

• Most inmates now leave prison angry andbrutalized, without job or life skills. Rehabilitationprograms report success in reducing recidivism.

• Drug use and related crime would go down if wetreated drug users as a public health challengeinstead of a law enforcement problem.

Drawbacks• There’s no evidence that rehabilitation programs

work on hardened criminals.• Prisons are supposed to separate dangerous people

from society and punish them for their crimes.• Mandatory sentencing is a matter of fairness.

Similar crimes should have similar punishments.

A Likely Trade-off?• The rehabilitation approach provides criminals with

opportunities, like free job training and medicaltreatment, that aren’t available to many law-abidingcitizens.

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Let participants know who is sponsoring the forum/study circle.Stress the cosponsorship if several organizations are involved.

Remind people that the Pre-Forum Questionnaire is a way to geteveryone focused on the issue and a way for each participant to takeinventory of initial feelings on the issue. Tell them there’ll be anotherquestionnaire for them after these deliberations end.(Pre- and Post-Forum Questionnaires are found at the end of theissue book. You may want to provide copies to participants separate-ly if they do not want to tear these pages out of their issue books. Ifyou distribute separate copies, it is wise to make the Pre- and Post-Forum Questionnaires on different colored paper so that they easilymay be kept separate.)

MAKE CLEAR THAT THE FORUM IS NOT A DEBATE. Stress thatthere is work to do, and that the work is to move toward making achoice on a public policy issue. The work will be done through delib-eration. Review the paragraph “How Do We Do It?” (see page 11). Theresponsibility for doing the work of deliberation belongs to the group.Deliberation is necessary because there are competing approaches tosolving the problem.

Explain that the video reviews the problems underlying the issue,then briefly examines three or four public policy alternatives. In sodoing, it sets the stage for deliberation. (Starter videos for each issuebook are available from Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company at 1-800-228-0810.)

Connect the issues to people’s lives and concerns — in the first fewminutes — by getting participants to talk about their personal experi-ences with the issue, and to tell their stories. This makes the issuegenuine, human rather than abstract. Some questions you might askinclude: “Has anyone had a personal experience that illustrates theproblems associated with this issue?” “Within your family, or circle offriends, is this an important issue?” “What aspects of the issue aremost important to you?” “How does the issue affect people?”

Welcome

Questionnaire (Pre-Forum)

Ground Rules

Starter Video

Personal Stake

Suggested Format for an NIF Forum or Study Circle

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The Forum/Study CircleDeliberationConsistent with what deliberation is,moderators ask basic types of questions in a forum:

What Is Valuable to Us?This question gets at why making public choices is so difficult: the approachesturn on things that people care about very deeply, such as being secure or beingtreated fairly. This question can take many forms:

• How has this issue affected you personally? (Usually asked at the beginning.)

• What things are most valuable to people who support this option?

• What is appealing about this approach?

• What makes this choice a good idea — or a bad one?

What Are the Costs or Consequences Associated withthe Various Choices? This question can take as long as it prompts people to think about the likelyeffects of various approaches on what is valuable to them. Examples include:

• What would result from doing what this approach proposes?

• What could be the consequences of doing what you are suggesting?

• Can you give an example of what you think would happen?

• Does anyone have a different estimate of costs or consequences?

What Are the Tensions or Conflicts in This Issue ThatWe Have to “Work Through”?As a forum progresses, moderators will ask questions that draw out conflicts ortensions that people have to “work through.” They might ask:

• What do you see as the tension between the approaches?

• Where are the conflicts that grow out of what we’ve said about this issue?

• Why is this issue so difficult to decide?

• What are the “gray areas”?

• What remains unsolved for this group?

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Before ending a forum take a few minutes to reflect both individually and as a group on what has beenaccomplished. Questions like the following have been useful:

I. Individual ReflectionsHow has your thinking about the issue changed?How has your thinking about other people’s views changed?How has your perspective changed as a result of what you heard in this forum?

II. Group ReflectionsWhat didn’t we work through?Can we identify any shared sense of purpose or direction?What trade-offs are we, or are we not, willing to make to move in a shared direction?

III. Next-Step ReflectionsWhat do we still need to talk about?How can we use what we learned about ourselves in this forum?Do we want to meet again?

The Post-Forum Questionnaire is a way to face the conflict within ourselves. Often we discover aspectsof each choice we hold most valuable. Yet, the things we care deeply about are often in conflict. Pleasereturn the questionnaires and the Moderator Response sheet on page 12 after the forum.

Stages of a Forum/Study Circle15% for Opening Welcome — The convenor or moderator introduces NIF program.

Questionnaire — Participants complete Pre-Forum Questionnaire.Ground Rules — Participants review desired outcomes of forum.Starter Video — The starter video sets the tone for the discussion.Personal Stake — Connect the issue to people’s lives and concerns.

65% for The Deliberation — Participants examine all the choices.Deliberation20% for Ending the Forum — Reflect on what has been accomplished.Ending theForum/Study Questionnaire — Participants complete Post-Forum Questionnaire.Circle

Questionnaire (Post-Forum)

Ending A Forum/Study Circle

Suggested Time Line

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NIF Forums and Study CirclesWhy Are We Here? What Are We Going to Do?

We are here to move toward a public decision orCHOICE on a difficult issue through CHOICEWORK.

How Do We Do It? Through a deliberative dialogue in which we:

• Understand the PROS and CONS of eachapproach, its BENEFITS, DRAWBACKS, &TRADE-OFFS.

• Know the STRATEGIC FACTS and how theyaffect the way the group thinks about eachoption.

• Get beyond the initial positions people hold totheir deeper motivations — the things peopleconsider to be most valuable in everyday life.

• Weigh carefully the views of others; appreciatethe impact various options would have on whatothers consider valuable.

• WORK THROUGH the conflicting emotions thatarise when various options pull and tug on what people consider valuable.

How Can We Know If We Are Making Progress?

By constantly testing your group:

• Can your group make the best case for theapproach least favored?

• Can it identify the negative effects of the approach most favored?

To order the Crime and Punishment: Is Justice Being Servedissue book and starter tape call Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.800-228-0810, fax 800-772-9165 or mail to National IssuesForums Research, 100 Commons Road, Dayton, OH 45459.

Moderator guides and forum posters are also available,call 800-600-4060.

For other information and comments, visit the NIF Web site at nifi.org or call NIF Research at 800-433-7834.

To post the dates and locations of your forums, E-mail: forums@nifi.org.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

NIF convenor Bill DiMascio of the Pennsylvania Prison Societyserved as contributing editor of this guide.

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Crime and Punishment: Is Justice Being Served?Moderator Response

After the forum, please complete this brief response sheet and return it withthe questionnaires from the forum.

Moderator’s Name

Phone Date and location of forum

Briefly describe the audience of your forum including city and state,diversity, age of participants, number of participants.

What elements of this issue seemed most difficult to the participants?

What common concerns were most apparent?

Were there trade-offs most participants would accept? Describe.

Were there trade-offs most participants would not accept? Describe.

Did the group identify shared directions for action?

Return with questionnaires to:National Issues Forums Research100 Commons Road, Dayton, Ohio 45459-2777www.nifi.org