Discuss The Role Of Forgiveness In Criminal Justice

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How do we justify an action and our emotions in order to be able to decipher what is wrong or right? There is righteousness in forgiveness to help restore a sense of justice, peace and stability. There are two concepts to the principle of justice, which produce of the action of forgiveness. Retributive response achieves justice through punishment against the offender whereas restorative response finds an admissible redemption option reasonable to their questionable action/behavior. The role of these concepts depends highly on the situation. They ultimately lead to the offender accepting responsibility and apologizing. Forgiveness can help restore a sense of justice through restoration. All in all, the actions of the offenders are caused by a restorative response. …show more content…

Through justice and forgiveness, peace is gained through the satisfaction of knowing one is forgiven or doing the forgiving. “Forgiveness has been defined as the transformation of a victim’s motives and attitudes towards the offender from negative to positive” (464). This is due to helping the offender with self-growth that leads to peace within. “So, any intervention, action or cognitive rationalization that increases feelings of justice in the victim should therefore increase the probability that the victim will forgive the offender” (464). Knowing that one is proving their self to gain your trust and an acceptance of apology bridges the remaining gap and adds peace to the situation. “The positive link between justice and forgiveness might only hold for restorative, not retributive, means of justice restoration” (465). Going back to retributive responses, it’s only adding more fuel to the fire, which leaves things messy. One is content and at peace with their heart knowing they feel a situation has been justified or that they have been forgiven meaning there is no need to live with guilt or

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