Book Review: The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice
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Edited by Michael L. Hadley
SUNY Series in Religious Studies (Ed. Harold Coward), Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 2001.
Reviewed by Gregory Strong.
This book consists of
a set of papers examining religious and philosophical foundations for
restorative justice. The papers grew out of the “Spiritual Roots” project,
an interdisciplinary and international research project to explore
multi-faith perspectives on crime and punishment, especially the traditional
roots of those perspectives and how those roots relate to key ideas and
practices of restorative justice. The perspectives examined come from a
number of religious and philosophical traditions: aboriginal religion;
Buddhism; Chinese philosophy and religion; Christianity; Hinduism; Islam;
Judaism; and Sikhism. The distinctiveness of each tradition is respected,
while their fundamental contributions to criminal justice issues are
recognized. The collection also contains a substantial introduction by the
editor to multi-faith reflection on criminal justice, a paper on
philosophical theories of criminal punishment, and an epilogue describing
specific instances where restorative practices were employed in aboriginal
cases in Canada. Authors include academics and practitioners in the criminal
justice sphere. The project and the book constitute a significant
contribution to the exploration of religious dimensions in the formation of
criminal justice ideas, perspectives, and practices.
Chapter
Summaries
Introduction: Multifaith Reflection on
Criminal Justice
Restorative Justice and the
Philosophical Theories of Criminal Punishment
The Case for Aboriginal Justice and
Healing: The Self Perceived through a Broken Mirror
Healing Justice: A Buddhist
Perspective
The Spirit and Practice of Restorative
Justice in Chinese Culture
Christianity: the Rediscovery of
Restorative Justice
Justice in Hinduism
Restorative Justice in Islam: Theory and Practice
Jewish Perspectives on Restorative
Justice
Sikhism and Restorative Justice: Theory
and Practice
Epilogue: Justice as Hope
July 2001
Last modified 2006-08-08 09:29
