1. What are the four primary aims of Harris’s model for evaluating restorative justice practices? And what other two factors should a restorative approach incorporate?
Harris initially proposes six aims - at least when it comes to restorative justice program with four primary aims as empowerment, restoration, reintegration and emotional/social healing (Doerner & Lab, 2012).
Empowerment enables all parties, both offender and victim, to be a part of the process of restoration. But not by the same definition over all as empowerment for the victim is wanting the offender to take responsibility for the offense. The victim also has a sense of empowerment with the ability to share their emotions and how the offense has affected their lives (storytelling) and has the power to agree with the ending resolution or not. Whereas the offender has a sense of power in acceptance their fault, listening to the victim’s story and even sharing their own story as to what may have brought them to committing the crime. In turn, empowerment is likewise for the offender in being a part in the resolution (Shnable & Nadler, 2008).
Restoration consists of the victim return to a whole along with the empowerment gained in the restorative process and the offender their image in the sense of public opinion. If the community feels justice has been served and the victim is satisfied with the outcome of the restorative process, the offender stands a better chance of returning to the community whole or pre-criminal act (Gromet, Okimoto, Wenzel & Darley, 2012). Both emphasizing the reintegration into the community in this case, too, given the emotional and social healing as the key players address the harm that has been done in the crime.
The remaining two factor...
... middle of paper ...
...ioned case of the youth with his disrespectful letter. If he was placed into a conference with the victims would he have enough support in the process of be overwhelmed with the victim’s support system including their friends, neighbors and more?
This would also bring into question who makes up the community in this situation. Would neighbors be necessary in the conference? And last would be the potential to remove the current criminal justice system from power. In the case of those who want to see the rehabilitation of the teenage theft in the aforementioned case, would the restorative process make the victim an obstacle (Doerner & Lab, 2012)?
References
BBC. (2011). Burglar abuses Leeds victims in letter. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-15853088
Doerner, W.G. & Lab, S.P. (2012). Victimology. 6th ed. Burlington, MA:Anderson Publishing
According to Graham, reconciliation is both “… a goal in the sense that it aims to restore relationships or to promote agonism or mutual tolerance, respect, and dignity […] [And] it is a process because it requires multiple modes, steps, stages, and transformations across all levels of society and amongst all stakeholders in a conflict” (Graham 2015). Through reconciliation and the related processes of restorative justice, parties to the dispute explore and overcome the pain brought on by the conflict and find ways to build trust and live cooperatively with each other. Restorative justice seeks to have a positive impact on offenders by confronting them with the consequences of their actions and delineating their responsibilities, giving them both the opportunity to repair the damage caused to the victim and to work on finding a solution to their problems (Umbreit, Bradshaw and Coates, 1999). According to Philpott, there are six components of political reconciliation: building socially just institutions and relations between states, acknowledgement, reparations, punishment, apology, and forgiveness (Philpott
Umbreit, M. & Bradshaw, W. & Coates, R. (1994) Victims of severe violence meet the offender: restorative justice through dialogue. International Review of Victimology, 6, p321-344.
Restoration Restorative justice is based on bringing together the victim, the offender, and the community; all have equal parts in repairing the relationships destroyed by
Restorative justice can be defined as a theory related to justice that is concerned on repairing the harm that is caused or revealed by a criminal behavior (Barsh 2005: 359). Over the years, restorative justice has been seen as an effective way of dealing with both social as well as cultural issues of the aboriginal people. Because of these, restorative justice is used in many of the local communities in an effort to correct criminal behavior. This concept is seen as a conceptualization of justice which is in most cases congruent with the cultural and the community values of the aboriginal people. There is growing body of evidence which suggests that there are a number of challenges which accrue the effective implementation of restorative justice amongst the aboriginal people.
A. Community Justice and Restorative Justice –Restorative justice is an alternative to traditional court processing in that it seeks to involve offenders, victims, and ...
Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz states how schools that claim they are following restorative approaches through their policies in discipline are not necessarily restorative, but have enough flexibility to allow a restorative response.
Similarly to rehabilitation, restoration looks to better society, however, this approach to justice emphasises the needs of the victim. In cases of minor crimes such as vandalism or petty theft, restoration is preferable to rehabilitation. This is because those who commit these minor crimes often don’t have the need for rehabilitation as mental health isn’t a large concern. In these small cases, it is also not burdensome to compensate for the losses of the victim, making restoration the ideal
“Restorative justice is an approach to crime and other wrongdoings that focuses on repairing harm and encouraging responsibility and involvement of the parties impacted by the wrong.” This quote comes from a leading restorative justice scholar named Howard Zehr. The process of restorative justice necessitates a shift in responsibility for addressing crime. In a restorative justice process, the citizens who have been affected by a crime must take an active role in addressing that crime. Although law professionals may have secondary roles in facilitating the restorative justice process, it is the citizens who must take up the majority of the responsibility in healing the pains caused by crime. Restorative justice is a very broad subject and has many other topics inside of it. The main goal of the restorative justice system is to focus on the needs of the victims, the offenders, and the community, and focus
Restorative justice is defined as “using humanistic, no punitive strategies to right wrongs and restore social harmony” (Siegel, 2008, p. 189). Instead of imposing harsh penalties on offenders like long prison sentences or even the death penalty, restorative justice calls for a more rehabilitative approach, such as reconciliation and offender assistance.
Restorative justice is an alternative community based program for juvenile offenders. Instead of sending juvenile offenders to jail or punishing them, they are taught
Over the years, the traditional criminal justice system has emphasized offenders’ accountability through punishment and stigmatization. The emphasis on the retributive philosophy made it challenging for the system to meaningfully assist and empower crime victims. In the criminal justice system, victims often face insensitive treatment with little or no opportunity for input into the perseverance of their case and report feeling voiceless in the process used (Choi, Gilbert, & Green, 2013:114). Crime Victims, advocates, and practitioners have called for an expansion of victims’ rights and community-based alternatives rather than punishment-orientated justice policies. What victims want from the criminal justice system is a less formal process, more information about case processing, respectful treatment, and emotional restoration. Therefore, there is a growing need to progress towards the restorative justice (RJ) system.
Agreeing on a definition of restorative justice has proved difficult. One definition is a theory of justice that focuses mostly on repairing the harm caused by criminal behaviour. The reparation is done through a cooperative process that includes all the stakeholders. Restorative justice can also be explained as an approach of justice that aims to satisfy the needs of the victims and offenders, as well as the entire community. The most broadly accepted definition for restorative justice, however, is a process whereby all the parties that have a stake in a specific offence collectively resolve on how to deal with the aftermath. This process is largely focused around reparation, reintegration and participation of victims. That is to say, it is a victim-centred approach to criminal justice, and it perceives crime differently than the adversarial system of justice.
...apabilities to deal with this which is not the case so much nowadays as Tony Marshall (1999) argues. There are criticisms over procedures, loss of rights such as an independent and impartial forum as well as the principle of proportionality in sentencing. There is also an unrealistic expectation that restorative justice can produce major changes in deviant behaviour, as there is not enough evidence to support this claim (Cunneen, 2007). Levrant et al (1999) on the other hand suggests that restorative justice still remains unproven in its’ effectiveness to stop reoffending and argues that its appeal lies in its apparent morality and humanistic sentiments rather than its empirical effectiveness. He continues to argue that it allows people to feel better within themselves through having the moral high ground rather than focusing on providing justice to the offender.
...mmunity involvement in justice and to provide on-site support services for victims (Hall 2010, p. 196). Although reforms to prevent crime have been increasingly influenced by victims, they are still widely recognised as neglected parties in the criminal system, mainly during the prosecution and sentencing of offenders (Strang, Heather, Lawrence W. Sherman 2003).
As the purpose of restorative justice is to mend the very relationship between the victim, offender, and society, communities that embrace restorative justice foster an awareness on how the act has harmed others. Braithwaite (1989) notes that by rejecting only the criminal act and not the offender, restorative justice allows for a closer empathetic relationship between the offender, victims, and community. By acknowledging the intrinsic worth of the offender and their ability to contribute back to the community, restorative justice shows how all individuals are capable of being useful despite criminal acts previous. This encourages offenders to safely reintegrate into society, as they are encouraged to rejoin and find rapport with the community through their emotions and