Appalachian communities are working with AJRC faculty and students to find innovative ways to build meaningful forms of community safety. Safety is a basic need for everyone, even as it is specific and variable in different regions and communities. With growing recognition of the human and financial toll of mass criminalization and incarceration, local governments and communities across the US are seeking new ways to develop and promote meaningful forms of safety and accountability. These efforts give attention to root and structural causes of violence and harm, the damaging generational and racialized impacts of criminalization, and how investments prioritizing just economic transitions, health care, education, housing, and more, can increase safety for all. In this way, community safety has deep roots – and possibilities – in our current research themes in land, health and housing justice.
Community Safety Projects
Building a Community Safety Toolkit for Family & Domestic Violence with ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ/Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
Eastern Band of Cherokee tribal citizens and faculty and students at the AJRC are working to develop a domestic violence safety tool following the cultural values and needs specific to the EBCI, which is focused on community safety overall rather than criminalizing individuals and providing short-term solutions.
Retail theft, Shoplifting and Community Impacts with Community Defense of East Tennessee
Community Defense of East Tennessee (CDET) approached faculty at the AJRC and asked for student support to help document the legal and community impacts of retail theft charges in our region. Students are collecting and analyzing data on shoplifting and retail theft, including the nature and level of legal charges; the range and scope of punishment; the role of retail companies; root causes of theft; and overall impacts on individuals and communities in East Tennessee.
Affiliated Faculty
*Artwork in the header photo created by Vivian Swayne for the AJRC