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Theory of restorative justice
Theory of restorative justice
Theory of restorative justice
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Justice Justice is defined as the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments. In the case of upholding the law, punishment is the usual assignment. The purposes of punishment include retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation, and restoration. Although, punishment concepts such as retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation have been around for a while, the concepts of rehabilitation and restoration are fairly new. Restorative Justice Most contemporary justice systems focus on a violation of the law(s), a offender, and a punishment for which to dole out. However, a concept called “restorative justice” is an approach …show more content…
This approach is based around three concepts: that when crime occurs, the focus is on the damage that has been done to people and relationships, when harm has been done, it creates obligations and liabilities and the way forward involves transgressors, victims and the community in efforts to reconcile the damage and put things right. However, “the methods are mostly applied in less serious crimes, like property offenses in which the wrong can be righted — stolen property returned, vandalized material replaced. The processes are designed to be flexible enough to handle violent crime like assault, but they are rarely used in those situations. And no one I spoke to had ever heard of restorative justice applied for anything as serious as murder” (Tullis, 2013). Although, against the odds, the case of Conor McBride, who on March 28, 2010 in Tallahassee, FL, shot and killed his girlfriend of three years, Ann Grosmaire, was the first case to use restorative justice in Florida. Instead of being hostile and hating McBride and his family, Ann’s mother and father decided to forgive McBride for their sake and …show more content…
In 2011, Julie McBride, Conor’s mother, contacted Baliga who proceeded to tell her why restorative justice wouldn’t work for her son’s case since it was a homicide. Although, in the end Baliga was convinced by both families and decided to help. Baliga then set up a restorative-justice community conference, in which all parties — the offender, victim, facilitator and law enforcement — come together. Each person speaks, one at a time and without interruption, about the crime and its effects, and the participants come to a consensus about how to repair the harm done, for June of 2011. On the date of the conference, the McBride’s, the Grosmaire’s, who set up a chair with Ann’s belongings to represent her, Baliga, the lawyers, a victims’ advocate and the Grosmaire’s priest would all be in attendance. After hearing everyone’s thoughts on the subject and how the crime has affected them everyone in the meeting came to the census of 10-15 years in prison. However, the final verdict for McBride’s sentence was 20 years in prison with 10
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.
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 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.
Zehr (1990) who is thought to be one of the pioneers leading the argument for restorative justice highlighted three questions presented when taking a restorative approach; what is the nature of the harm resulting from the crime? What needs to be done to make things right or repair the harm? Who is responsible for this repair? He ascertained that ‘crime is fundamentally a violation of people and interpersonal relationships’. He also noted that violations create obligations and liabilities and that restorative justice seeks to heal and put right the wrongs. Restorative jus...
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
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.
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
This approach has introduced a criminal justice policy agenda. In the past, victims to criminal activities have been outsiders to the criminal conflict. In recent times, many efforts have been made to give the victims a more central role in the criminal justice system. Some of these efforts were introduced a few years back, though even at that time, these efforts were seen as long overdue. Some of these efforts include access to state compensation and forms of practical support. For advocates of restorative justice, crime is perceived primarily as a violation of people and relationships, and the aim is to make amends for all the harm suffered by victims, offenders and communities. The most commonly used forms of restorative justice include direct mediation, indirect mediation, restorative cautioning, sentencing panels or circles and conferencing. In recent...
...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.
The traditional justice criminal system is empowering the restorative approach Generally, the traditional criminal justice is seen as a harsh approach to punish offenders. Whereas, the underlying assumption of restorative justice is that it is a soft on offenders principle. In order to evaluate these assumptions, the primary objectives of each perspective must be observed. Restorative justice focuses on addressing harms, needs, and obligations of the offenders, victims, and community through a collaborative process (Griffiths, 2015, p. 306). Retributive justice, on the other hand, emphasises accounting broken laws, punishing offenders, and does not encourage forgiveness (Griffiths, 2015, p.308).
Restorative justice is a mechanism that focusses on rehabilitation of an offender through reconciliation of individuals harmed by a crime. Restorative justice has proven to be successful because Natalie DeFreitas claimed that 70% of people incarcerated reoffend after one year of being released from prison, and only 15% reoffend after restorative justice (DeFreitas, 2012). However, restorative justice is not an effective means of handling gendered violence cases. Barbara Hudson claims that “gendered violence offences are so serious and so frequent that the most robust form of justice available should be used against them” (Hudson, 2002, p.622). Gendered violence is considered non-discrete because victims continuously suffer from sexual, domestic
When Mary Catherine Parris was told that I would be talking to her about restorative justice, her response was, “Is that a real thing?” (personal communication, September 23, 2015). Through this assignment I realized that restorative justice is not talked about within the criminal justice system. For both of the individuals I spoke with, the idea of restorative justice seemed like a joke. In trying to persuade them both that restorative justice is a real thing, I was met with very similar beliefs and comments from both individuals. They both believed that restorative justice would not work and believed that some aspects of the approach were completely useless (M. C. Parris, & R. Clemones, personal communication, September 23, 2015). The responses
“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 works in a timely manner it brings the victims, family members, and other
Restorative Justice Used in Public Schools In 1977, a psychologist by the name of Albert Eglash first coined the word restorative justice while working with incarcerated people. He believed that it was a way to focus on the needs of the victims and the offenders as well as getting involved in the community. Restorative justice is a peaceful approach to addressing harm, violations of legal and human rights, and problem solving. Although restorative justice has been the main focus point in Schools in the U.S., it is also used in the juvenile system and in schools outside of the U.S. Schools across the country have adopted multiple approaches under the restorative justice umbrella to transition away from their traditional punishment