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Restorative justice
Restorative justice
Concepts of restorative justice
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Restorative justice aims to bring back the sense of security by emphasizing the social relationships and providing social support and control for victims. It focuses on the healing the individuals affected by the crime, permitting all individuals involved in the justice process, and places the responsibility of establishing peace on the government. Three criticisms of restorative justice are the assumptions that agreements those involved are secured when they are sometimes not achieved, it avoids implementing traditional ways of the criminal justice system, and the government holding the accountability. I believe that the blame should not held accountable for the actions of individuals. The government’s job is to enforce the law; however, since
the government does not monitor every individual, every second, it is up to the individuals to make their own decision and face the consequences of their actions. The government should not be the responsible. I do, however, like that restorative justice focused on the healing of not only the victim but the offender and society as well. In order to restore and revert a community back to how it was before, all parties involved should be equally worked on.
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...
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.
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
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.
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
There are many themes or words I could use to describe restorative justice. The one that stood out to me the most was found in The Little Book of Restorative Justice by Howard Zehr (10), “restorative justice is a compass not a map”. I remember reading this and talking about it in class one day and it has always made me think.
“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
There are two different types of justice such as Restorative justice and Retributive justice. According to Gibbs and Jacobson's (2009) restorative justice aims to heal the relationships between the victim and the offender and maybe even with the community where the crime had taken place while on the other hand Retributive Justice emphasizes that penalty provided that it’s a proportional response to the offense that has been committed. I believe that many people feel the same way as in they want to be treated fairly and with justice and that is why I feel restorative justice is the better option for victims who feel that they want justice after their offenders wrongdoings. Restorative justice prides itself on how it concentrates on both the
Restorative Justice is an approach that personalizes the crime by having the victims and the offenders mediate a restitution agreement to the satisfaction of one another. This method is used to contrast more punitive approaches where the aim is retributive justice. Instead of having the offenders punished restorative justice emphasizes repairing the harm caused by having the offenders redeem themselves. The process is best accomplished by having all offenders and victims cooperation. The offenders and victim seek to understand what the issue is and how it can be addressed. I believe that this process will benefit people more instead of them being punished for their crimes off back. This is a meaningful method used to help and teach people
With all of the other studies and approaches out there restorative justice has characteristics that tend to differentiate from the other forms of justice such as retributive justice. This justice is different because in the way this approach is perceived and dealt with represents major differences between the two justices. If choosing the retributive approach, crime is considered to be and act against the state, instead of an act against one individual. Many of the recent studies, and theories, however, like to focus on trying to diminish the differences between the two approaches and argue that possibly combining elements from both approaches, for example punishment, and could be seen as a tool to repair harm and not as a deterrence factor.
II. OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN THE DELIVERY OF JUSTICE IN BOTSWANA Restorative justice therefore refers to “a practitioner-led reform that calls for changes in the criminal domain, emphasizing mostly on communication and reconciliation between victim, offender and the community in which they reside” (Dzur, 2003). It can also be defined as “a tool addressing the hurts and needs of victims and offenders in a way that heals them and their community (Macharia, 2016). This means that the measure focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders in criminal activities or offences through reconciling them with victims of their acts and the community at large.