by: David Cornwell. Waterside Press, UK. 2006.

Some of the very best readings, as well as programmes, in restorative justice (RJ)  come from outside of the United States. Many of the seminal restorative justice programmes began in Canada, New Zealand and/or with tribal groups. This book is therefore an important contribution to the growing body of literature concerning the application of RJ in the criminal justice arena. 

This new book covers much territory and is well worth a read and perhaps a place on your professional bookshelf. It is light (175 pages, dozens of pages of references) while the theme and content is heavy.  It will be of interest to criminal justice professionals, students, restorative practitioners (Victim Offender Programme personnel, especially) and administrators.

Cornwell is a practitioner, not an office-based scholar. He is a veteran prison warden (called a governor in England). He ran British court- prison services and a 3,000 bed maximum security facility in South Africa.

As the title suggests, the chapters take a hard look at just deserts, retributive justice, deterrence and the so called ‘justice model.’ Readers are reminded that offenders do not typically make decisions based on a rational analysis of costs and benefits. Consequently they are unaffected by the threat of punishment, even though the doctrine of deterrence still guides much of North American criminal justice and policing.

This point is made by Cornwell, and also in concluding chapters by guest authors. Fred McElrea, a New Zealand judge, maintains that “levels of crime do not seem to drop when levels of punishment increase.”  This view is well supported by data. For example, in 2005 a record number of individuals (78,200) were incarcerated in England and Wales.

John Blad notes that in the Netherlands the incarceration numbers increased from 4000 in 1985 to 15,000 in 2000 after the Dutch ‘got tough’ and changed legislation and length of sentences in the 80’s and 90’s.

On the other hand, according to Robert Cormier, Canadian policy makers realized that cost and bed space constraints might not support ‘get tough’ legislation, and as a result have held down the imprisonment rate. The authors conclude that "restorative programmes can enable us to send less people to prison by allowing more offenders to repair the harm occasioned by their offenses and make reparation to the victims of crime."

The book makes mention of ‘restorative prisons,’ which will interest some readers. It invites decisionmakers to think beyond what the code, laws, or sentencing guidelines dictate related to post conviction length of sentence or ‘normal’ disposition.

Criminal justice professionals are encouraged to consider a paradigm shift from their current preoccupation with what law was broken, who broke it and how should they be punished? Instead, they are encouraged to consider a paradigm shift to the Howard Zehr (2002) questions; who has been harmed, what are their needs, and who is responsible for those?

This short book is well worth the time and effort to read and ponder, especially for anyone who actually works in or administers ‘punishment’ within criminal justice programmes.

Eric Assur
Eassur@arlingtonva.us
April 2007