WK 1 Journal: Your Views on Restorative Justice

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Restorative justice.

Boslaugh, Sarah E., PhD

Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2022. 1p.

Article

Restorative justice

Restorative justice emphasizes repairing the damage done by a crime; it is an alternative to the retributive, punishment-based systems in common use in the United States and much of rest of the world. Restorative justice is a nonadversarial approach that seeks to bring together those affected by a crime, including at a minimum the offender and victim, in a process that requires the offender to accept responsibility for his or her behavior and its consequences. Although restorative justice is not suitable for all circumstances, programs implementing the restorative justice model have been shown to produce positive results for the offender, the victim, and the community.

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Research Starters

Restorative justice

Restorative justice emphasizes repairing the damage done by a crime; it is an alternative to the retributive, punishment-based systems in common use in the United States and much of rest of the world. Restorative justice is a nonadversarial approach that seeks to bring together those affected by a crime, including at a minimum the offender and victim, in a process that requires the offender to accept responsibility for his or her behavior and its consequences. Although restorative justice is not suitable for all circumstances, programs implementing the restorative justice model have been shown to produce positive results for the offender, the victim, and the community.

Scale, often used symbolically to represent the concept of justice. By Mikadiou (Own work) [CC-BY- SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licens

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Overview

Restorative justice is a relatively new approach to criminal justice, emerging in the 1970s as part of the victims’ rights movement, while also aligning with interest in finding alternatives to the court system to resolve disputes. Apart from the United States, restorative justice programs have been developed in Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and the movement was considerably strengthened when the American Bar Association endorsed victim-offender mediation in 1994.

The restorative justice process views a crime as an injury to an individual, rather than to an impersonal state, and focuses on who has been hurt, their needs, and who is obligated to address their needs and repair the wrongs of the crime. This contrasts with the retributive approach to justice, which focuses on what laws were broken, by whom, and how that person should be punished. Because one requirement of restorative justice is that the perpetrator accept responsibility for his or her crime, participation in restorative justice programs must be voluntary, and is often reserved for a select group of offenders—for instance, first-time offenders and/or those who have committed relatively minor crimes.

Several types of restorative justice programs are currently in use. In family group conferences, the victim, offender, and family and friends of both parties come together for a facilitated discussion about the crime. With victim-impact panels, a small group of crime victims (usually not including the specific victim of the perpetrator, but victims of similar crimes) speak to the perpetrator about how the crime has affected their lives, to help the perpetrator realize the consequences of his or her actions. In victim-mediator mediation, crime victims meet the perpetrator in a structured setting, with a dual focus on getting the perpetrator to realize the impact of his or her crime and to make amends for it, and empowering the victim and allowing him or her to achieve closure. In circle sentencing, the victim, offender, friends and family, representatives of the justice system, and community members meet and take turns discussing the crime and identifying steps necessary to help restore the affected parties and prevent future crimes.

Many benefits have been found for restorative justice programs, including reduced recidivism and increased well-being of victims, many of whom reported that the process help them deal with their feelings of fear, anger, and guilt. Perpetrators of crimes typically report being positively changed by the restorative process as well. Restorative justice has been proposed as a means of reforming the prison system in the United States, as more people see its advantage over simply punitive action.

Bibliography

Armour, Marilyn. “Restorative Justice: Some Facts and History.” Tikkun (2012): 25+. Print.

Bazemore, Gordon, and Mara Schiff. Restorative Community Justice: Repairing Harm and Transforming Communities. London: Routledge, 2015. Print.

Johnstone, Gerry. Restorative Justice: Ideas, Values, Debates. New York: Routledge, 2011. Print.

Miller, Susan L. After the Crime: The Power of Restorative Justice Dialogues between Victims and Violent Offenders. New York: New York UP, 2011. Print.

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Prison Fellowship International. “What Is Restorative Justice?” Centre for Justice and Reconciliation. Prison Fellowship Intl., Nov. 2008. Web. 16 July 2013.

Shapland, Joanna, Angela Sorsby, and Gwen Robinson. Restorative Justice in Practice: Evaluating What Works for Victims and Offenders. New York: Routledge, 2011. Print.

Sherman, Lawrence W., and Heather Strang. “Restorative Justice: The Evidence.” The Smith Institute. Smith Inst., 2007. Web. 16 July 2013.

United States. Department of Justice. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs. “OJJDP Model Programs Guide: Restorative Justice.” OJJDP. US Dept. of Justice, n.d. Web. 16 July 2013.

Van Worner, Katherine S., and Lorenn Walker. Restorative Justice Today: Practical Applications. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2012. Print.

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