Summary
-
Carsten Erbe begins his chapter with a rather bleak assumption that every movement eventually 'sells out' to the perspective that it once opposed. Put another way, every movement finally comes to a point where it no longer represents what it once claimed to be. Erbe fears that restorative justice, though still a young movement, is in danger of crossing this 'irresistible threshold.' Key to his assessment is his characterization of restorative justice as essentially a community-based movement in direct opposition to the large-scale, institutional, and professional way of dealing with conflict and wrongdoing. Erbe argues in this chapter that recent developments in the restorative justice movement manifest a sharp turning away from this core value, the principle that the community 'owns' the process, not professionals.
4420
