Restorative Justice and Responsibility Essay
Jennifer Dalton
Liberty University
Criminal Justice 200: Introduction into Criminal Justice
Professor John Box
Restorative Justice has 3 core elements which are; encounter, repair and transform. It involves the
offender accepting and owning up to their actions and working towards repairing the damage done to
the victim, finding the root of the problem and fixing it. “The first goal of the current justice system is to
establish culpability through the legal process. While this is an important feature of a rights-based and
adversarial system, it also encourages offenders to deny responsibility and be held accountable only in so
far as they can be held legally responsible for their actions. In contrast, a restorative system encourages
offenders to take personal responsibility for their own actions, so that resources can instead be devoted
to making amends to the victim and community”. (Johnstone, G., & Van Ness, D. W.)
Restorative Justice has a high rate of victim satisfaction and recovery, when compared to punitive
discipline:retribution that only looks to punish offenders that often go on to reoffend because the
problem isn’t identified and fixed. “In restorative Justice the criminal act is condemned, offenders are
held accountable, participants are involved and repentant offenders are encouraged to earn their way
back into society” (Bohm, R. M. & Haley, K. N.)
1. A young mother in a rural community drives her car near a forest area, throws her infant down
the side of the road bank, and drives away. An elderly couple living nearby hears the infant's
cries, the wife calls 911, and the husband searches for and finds the baby alive and well.
My idea would not fall fully under restorative Justice but instead it would be restorative
intervention. Since this scenario involves a minor child protective services would be called in
immediately by law. The best way to go about resolving this would be to firstly have the young
mother evaluated for mental illnesses such as postpartum depression (aka: baby blues,
postpartum psychosis), anxiety etc. Then it would be wise to treat the problem and not punish it
so inpatient rehabilitation programs and parenting classes would be the best resolution.
Meanwhile the baby would be treated accordingly and sent to a foster home until the babies
mother is healthy and able to care for him/her. If the young mother still does not want to parent
the child then I’d have her sign her parental rights to the state without penalty.
2. A respected owner and founder of a well-established funeral home in the community retires,
leaving the business to his son. The son gambles with customer money for headstone and Grace
marker orders, driving the business into bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy stops most collections but not when dealing with fraudulent activity “…were created by his
fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation or defalcation while acting as an officer or in any fiduciary
capacity.” Which the owners son was the fiduciary. The best resolution would be to have the son pay
every bit of debt off that is ordered from the bankruptcy court and also suggest to the judge that in place
of a criminal conviction to order him to a gambling rehabilitation facility. While there I would insist the
son and father see a family therapist to repair their relationship.
3. A married man and father to two precious little girls starts an adulterous affair and murders his
wife and daughters to begin his new life.
There is absolutely no restorative Justice that could be achieved with this scenario. I don’t foresee the
remaining family would want to participate, but if by chance one of them did the only outcome would be
counseling for all parties involved.
“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24)
Scholarly journals-
Bohm, R. M. & Haley, K. N. (2021) Introduction to Criminal Justice. Sentencing, Appeals, and the
Death Penalty, 9(13), page 366.
Enterprises, D. (1994) The Holy Bible 21 century King James Version. Amos, 5(24).
st
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Amos%205&version=KJ21&interface=print
Johnstone, G., & Van Ness, D. W. (2007) Handbook of Restorative Justice. Satisfying the needs
and interests of stakeholders, 3(13), page 239.
http://students.aiu.edu/submissions/profiles/resources/onlineBook/H4S8j2_Restorative_Justice.pdf#pag
e=449
