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Essays O The Principles Of Restorative Justice
The importance of restorative justice
Violence against women sociology
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2. Introduction
As of the early 20th century, there has been a rise in violent crime committed by women. This is due to a change in gender roles that result in women having a lack of informal control, giving women the mindset that they are more assertive (Kruttschnitt, et. al, 2008). It has been found that women as a whole are less likely to reoffend after attending a restorative justice conference (Hayes, 2005). Due to the female violent offenders only being a minority offender group (Bonta, et.al, 1995), there are gaps in research in terms of the effectiveness of restorative justice on their recidivism rates (Latimer et.al, 2005). This research proposal will aim to address the gaps in this research by outlining the theoretical framework that backs the ideology that restorative justice may potentially be more beneficial and have a more positive outcome for females than males. Firstly this paper will discuss the current literature, outlining the effectiveness of restorative justice, the research surrounding the rise in female violent offenders, and the potential success of the two variables in reducing future recidivism. And finally, a research question and hypotheses will be outlined in order to potentially influence future policy change.
3. Literature Review
Restorative Justice conferencing has been seen to be successful in reducing recidivism. This method of justice involves the offender(s), victim(s) and/or stakeholders of an offence to meet in a professionally mediated environment to discuss the offence and negotiate an outcome (Tuddenham, 2001). The term “Restorative Justice” is referred to as practices that are aimed at making the offender aware of the material and psychological damage or harm that has been caused t...
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.... (2001). Evaluating Restorative Justice. Probation Journal, 48(4), 296. doi:10.1177/026455050104800411
Umbreit, M. S. (1995). Holding Juvenile Offenders Accountable: A Restorative Justice Perspective. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 46(2), 31. doi:10.1111/j.1755- 6988.1995.tb00815.x
Umbreit, M. S., & Armour, M. P. (2011). Restorative Justice and Dialogue: Impact, Opportunities, and Challenges in the Global Community. Journal of Law and Policy, 36(65), 65-89.
Verrecchia, P. J. (2009). Female Delinquents and Restorative Justice. Women & Criminal Justice, 19(1), 80. doi:10.1080/08974450802586992
Walgrave, L. (2011). Investigating the Potentials of Restorative Justice Practice.Washington University Journal of Law & Policy, 36(1), 91.
Wortley, R. (2011). Development. In Psychological criminology: An integrative approach (pp. 36). New York, USA: Routledge.
An important issue that needs to be addressed within the Central Justice System is to have a reduction in the number of offenders in order to keep both society safe and reduce the population of prisons to an absolute minimum. A tool that is being widely used in order to manage and reduce recidivism rates among the average offender is the RNR model, however when it is used to treat different minority groups problems can arise as they all require different strategies in order to deal with their needs and make the model work. This essay will prove that the RNR model has the ability to reduce recidivism when it has been modified in order to accompany for the minority group of female offenders as well as highlight what challenges this specific group
Roach, K. (2000). Changing punishment at the turn of the century: Restorative justice on the rise. Canadian Journal of Criminology. 42, (2), 249-280.
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
Restorative Justice is a new way of thinking about and responding to crime, especially in relation to youth offending. For the past decade, especially, there has been an increasing interest in new approaches towards criminal justice in general but more so in terms of juvenile delinquency and finding an appropriate form of punishment to escape the labelling of youth delinquency, which involve the community and focus much more on the victim.
A growing number of probation officers, judges, prosecutors as well as other juvenile professionals are advocating for a juvenile justice system which is greatly based on restorative justice. These groups of people have been frustrated by the policy uncertainty between retribution and treatment as well as unrealistic and unclear public expectations. As a primary mission, the balanced approach or policy allows juvenile justice systems together with its agencies to improve in their capacity of protecting the community and ensuring accountability of the system and the offenders . It enables the youths to become productive and competent citizens. This guiding philosophical framework for this policy is restorative justice as it promotes the maximum involvement of the community, victim, and the offender in the justice process. Restorative justice also presents a viable alternative to sanctions as well as interventions that are based on traditional or retributive treatment assumptions. In the policy proposal for restorative justice, the balanced approach mission assists juvenile justice system in becoming more responsive to the needs of the community, victims, and the offenders . Therefore, this paper considers how restorative justice reduces referrals of juveniles to criminal and juvenile justice systems and gives a proposal on the implementation of restorative justice in the community together with a number of recommendations. For instance, preliminary research reveals that application of restorative justice in schools significantly reduces school expulsions, suspensions, and referrals to the criminal justice systems. Restorative justice programs are an alternative for zero-tolerance policies for juveniles or youths .
This voluntary alternative gives the offender the opportunity to take responsibility for their actions and identify the impact they have had on their victim, while also giving the victim the chance to confront the offender and take steps to repair the harm done. The victim can ask the offender questions about the crime and the offender may apologise or make amends for their actions. Restorative justice is confrontational and can be difficult for both parties but is proven to help both the offender and victim. While it is confrontational for the victim, for some it can be better than testifying in court. Data shows that restorative justice greatly helps victims in their recovery from the offence. Although the benefits of restorative justice in adult offenders is unclear, it significantly reduces the number of reoffenders in youth. For this reason, restorative justice is mostly used for minor infringements and within the youth justice system.
American Bar Association. National Bar Association (2001). Justice by gender: The lack of appropriate prevention, diversion and treatment alternatives for girls in the justice system: a report. Retrieved from The Associations website: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/criminal_justice_section_newsletter/crimjust_juvjus_justicebygenderweb.authcheckdam.pdf
Historically, criminology was significantly ‘gender-blind’ with men constituting the majority of criminal offenders, criminal justice practitioners and criminologists to understand ‘male crimes’ (Carraine, Cox, South, Fussey, Turton, Theil & Hobbs, 2012). Consequently, women’s criminality was a greatly neglected area and women were typically seen as non-criminal. Although when women did commit crimes they were medicalised and pathologised, and sent to mental institutions not prisons (Carraine et al., 2012). Although women today are treated differently to how they were in the past, women still do get treated differently in the criminal justice system. Drawing upon social control theory, this essay argues that nature and extent of discrimination
In the last four decades, the number of incarcerated Americans has increased 700 percent to 2.3 million in 2010 (McGarry et al., 2013). The incarceration rates are also high and increasing in several other countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany. The number of repeat offenders are a large proportion of the prisoners. For example, it is indicated by Mastrobuoni & Terlizzese (2014) that nearly 40 percent of released offenders are re-incarcerated within three years in the United States. Thus, if countries could balance the implement of incarceration and rehabilitation to reduce recidivism, it will bring enormous societal benefits and the decrease in imprisonment rates. In the essay, I will discuss the effectiveness of
Pros of the restorative justice system are that it brings parties together in crime. Instead of a short term goal, the restorative justice system takes a long-term approach to reducing crime and violence using different kinds of methods. In restorative justice programs, offenders work with others affected by their criminal actions. Restorative justice promotes instilling positive behaviors in young criminals and teaching long-lasting changes in behavior to prevent future crimes. There also could be negative consequences from the restorative justice system. For restorative justice to work, criminals and their victims must communicate about the crime and its consequences. Since violent crimes often leave victims feeling helpless and vulnerable, encouraging communication can result in increased anxiety and fear. Additionally, communication might breach confidentiality for victims of violent crimes, such as rape and assault, because they must discuss the outcome of the crime and how it has impacted
Even though restorative justice has many supporters, it also boasts numerous opponents as well. In response to a proposal for restorative justice, conservatives largely contest the idea in favor of a more “get-tough” on criminals approach. “According to conservative theory, human beings are obliged to curb their drive for self-gratification. Offenders are to be punished harshly in order to provide them with a moral lesson and to serve as a general deterrent” (Mantle, Fox, & Dhami, 2005, p. 20). Many citizens worry that with the advancement of restorative justice comes the loss of state and government power. Because formal court processes are usually avoided and communities execute their own “judge and jury” practices when a crime is committed, restorative justice is sometimes seen as a threat to traditional U.S. state and federal court systems. A reduction in the involvement of the American court systems is viewed as a “breakdown of traditional social and legal authority” (Mantle et al., 2005, p. 20). With “a culture that is becoming increasingly conservative and focused on security rather than personal freedom,” (Siegel, 2008, p. 194) many conservatives are resistant to a form of justice that gives more liberty an...
Traditionally, there has been little research on or interest in the impact of female crime in modern society. In addition, juvenile crime rates are on the rise, which combine for a void of research or information on female juvenile offenders. In general, crime rates for women offenders have risen since the 1990's. Increasing numbers of young women are also offending at higher rates. In a 1996 U.S. Department of Justice Report, the number of arrests of young women had doubled between 1989 and 1993. Twenty percent of all juvenile arrests were committed by girls, an increase of 87 percent. However, according to The National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools, males are far more likely to admit to criminal involvement than are females. For example, 12 percent of males and 4 percent of females reported carrying a hidden weapon other than a pocketknife in the past year (Wilson, p.150). There are several theories for this rise in crime proposed by modern feminists, including that the introduction of women into traditional male roles prompted women to commit increasingly dangerous and violent crimes. However, this paper will rely on Meda Chesney-Lind's theories from The Female Offender.
The program is modeled after similar programs that begun in the 1970s and 1980s in New Zealand and Australia (Lawson 2004). It is used in schools, juvenile courts, and youth centers. However, for this discussion I will use the facts from Catherine Lawson’s restorative justice study in Missouri. In Lawson’s writings she references Derek R. Brookes, who came up with the conclusion that restorative justice attempts to produce these three outcomes: reconciliation, reparation, and transformation. Reconciliation is stage where all the apologies happen. Reparation is the stage at which the offender takes responsibility for his or actions, by providing fair restitution to the victim and lastly transformation is the stage where the offender is re-guided back into society as a productive member and is out of the cycle of
Johnstone, G. and Ness, D. (2007) Handbook of Restorative Justice. USA: Willan Publishing. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-big-question-what-are-the-alternatives-to-prison-and-do-they-work-419388.html [Accessed 01 January 2014].
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