Book Review: Restorative justice: how it works.
In Restorative Justice: How it Works, Marian Liebmann describes the wide range of uses of restorative justice theory and practice. Martin Wright reviews the book.
It is no longer necessary to make a case for restorative justice, although there are still issues to be discussed and plenty of scope for using it more extensively – especially with a better understanding of its principles.
In this book, Marian Liebmann primarily sets out to describe the wide range of ways in which restorative justice is being put into practice. She is well placed to do so, having worked in probation, victim support, mediation, education and art therapy, and trained mediators in Eastern Europe and Africa, as well as having the orderly approach that might be expected of someone whose first degree was in physics. She aims to fill the gap between introductory texts and complex theoretical ones; as she says, it is not a ‘how to’ book, but presents restorative justice in many of its applications.
After definitions and a short history of restorative justice, Liebmann describes its practice in different contexts: between victims and offenders (face to face or separately, for example Victim Support, and Circles of Support for offenders), for young children and school pupils, with juvenile and adult offenders in the United Kingdom (including Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have different systems).
A chapter reviews restorative justice applications in the rest of the world (mainly English-speaking, but with a section on some European countries). She then looks at controversial issues, including domestic violence, sexual offences, coercion and forgiveness, and summarizes research findings. Two chapters deal with special aspects: restorative justice after large-scale violence or oppression, and the use of arts approaches (with illustrations). Finally she proposes some growing points.
The book includes over thirty pages of appendices, with principles drawn up by the (British) Restorative Justice Consortium and the United Nations, respectively; a glossary; further reading, and organizations and websites. Also, since a case-history (like a picture) is worth a thousand words, the book includes some two hundred cases – which help to present restorative justice as a personal interaction rather than a system. This approach comes close to ‘learning by doing’, and is realistic in that not all the histories have a successful outcome. A few, however, read like testimonials.
The chapters describing different models are concise, and cut through a lot of theorizing; but one notable omission is the ground-breaking South African programme based in Zwelethemba. They can be read on their own; for example, many parents and teachers would find helpful the chapter on early years, which treats difficult behaviour not as naughtiness but as making mistakes; and points out that punishment is often a barrier to finding out the truth.
Similarly there are helpful descriptions of various models, such as those recently introduced in England and Wales. Liebmann points out the disappointing response of the National Offender Management Service, which does little more than tolerate restorative justice.
On restorative justice in prisons, Liebmann rightly stresses that no one should be sent to prison in order to access restorative work (p. 201); wherever possible it should be done in the community. But restorative approaches also have a place in maintaining (or creating) good relationships in prison, and combating bullying. It has even been applied successfully in Serbia, and has led to a drastic reduction in assaults in South Africa.
There have also been successful applications in sensitive fields such as sexual offences (including rape), domestic violence, and hate crimes, although obviously careful preparation and management are essential. In many cases however it has been used in addition to punishment, not instead.
There is a review of some of the growing volume of research on restorative justice projects, rightly pointing out that not all of them can properly use that label. Many of them suffer from self-selection bias, and account is not always taken of whether post-mediation help was available. Nevertheless the percentage of satisfied participants is consistently high (including among women victims of domestic violence in Austria).
An impressive list is given of cases where truth and reconciliation commissions have been used after conflict (in 24 places), genocide, ‘disappearances’ and so on, including the use of ‘video letters’; again the case histories are encouraging, even though not all lead to complete healing.
Liebmann describes the use of art, drama and music in restorative justice, a particular interest of hers; one feels that it ought to work, but there is little research as yet, and the most that can be claimed is that there are ‘grounds for some hope for the future’.
Finally she proposes growing points for the future, notably mediation in schools, the workplace and regulatory bodies, and she describes Dan Van Ness’s virtual ‘R J City’ as a way of exploring the possibilities.
Anyone new to restorative justice, or for that matter someone working in one branch of it and considering expanding into another, would find this book a useful starting point, with its combination of descriptions, case histories (which are separately indexed), theory and sources of further information. It will be an invaluable reference tool for anyone working in the criminal justice system.
Martin Wright
November 2007
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Last modified Oct 31, 2007 09:35 PM
