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The Potential of Restorative Justice

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Stubbs, Julie. Beyond apology? Domestic violence and critical questions for restorative justice.

The virtues claimed for restorative justice include its emotional engagement with crime and the opportunities afforded to participants by its discursive character. Yet these issues are rarely explored from a perspective that is attentive to gendered or other asymmetrical forms of social relations. This article explores key issues that remain under-developed in the restorative justice literature from a feminist perspective, taking domestic violence as a focus. Central to this analysis are questions of victims' interests and safety, expectations about the victim's role and the appeal to apology and forgiveness in much of the restorative justice literature. It is argued that the challenge of taking gendered harms seriously may require an approach that differs from common restorative justice practices such as the development of hybrid models that draw from both conventional criminal justice and restorative justice. (author's abstract)

Price, Marty D.. "Mediated Civil Compromise: A Tool for Restorative Justice."

Price posits an instance of embezzling as an example of a case of an offense in which society has little or no need to exact retribution from the offender and, likewise, little or no need to punish for the sake of deterrence. Realistically, harm was done only to the victim. If an agreement could be reached, by which: the offender would take meaningful responsibility for the harm done by restoring the victim's losses, and by which, the offender could demonstrate his remorse and become reconciled with the victim, then the state's justice dollars would be better spent prosecuting another offender who, absent remorse and meaningful responsibility, presents a genuine threat to the public. This is the philosophy of restorative justice, rather than retributive justice.

Dunbaugh, Frank M. Picturing the Transformation Process

Mr. Dunbaugh disputes the contention that penal abolitionists should reject restorative justice and seek instead transformative justice. He urges that abolitionists must continue to pursue their primary goal - penal abolition - and that restorative justice is a proper vehicle to achieve that goal. He contends that transformative justice analyses lack: (1) a clear commitment to abolishing the penal laws, (2) a clear vision of what new goals are sought, and (3) a clear strategy for bringing about the desired transformation. He then attempts to suggest a direction for this transformation process.

de León-Hartshorn, Iris and Amstutz, Lorraine Stutzman. Imagining Possibilities - Restorative Justice and Social Change

Can Restorative Justice move beyond the criminal justice context and be applied as a way of living together in our work, communities and globally? We will explore the possibilities of implementing principles and values of restorative justice for social change within organizational structures. Together we will image possibilities of the global family living in restorative communities. Abstract courtesy of the Centre for Justice and Peace Development, Massey University, http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz.

Hough, Katherine. May I have this Dance: Explorations of Restorative Justice and Reconciliation in Law and Theology

This paper is an interdisciplinary work which will explore the movement from conflict to restoration in both the Canadian Criminal Justice system and in Christian theological ethics. Reconciliation and restorative justice are not the same yet the expected outcomes are similar. The two processes appear to be parts of separate streams but I will show how the two can be valuable dialogical partners each improving its own processes by incorporating facets from the other into its own field. I outline how the criminal justice system could improve its track record of achieving true restoration by incorporating the heart language of lament, judgement, embrace, forgiveness and wholeness found in the works of such notable theologians as Walter Brueggemann, Gregory Jones and Miroslav Volf. This paper is part of a much larger work which also explores how the theological understanding of reconciliation is inadequate and proposes a further step which would move participants from reconciliation to restoration. If time permits, this process will be outlined so that session attendees can discuss it. Abstract courtesy of the Centre for Justice and Peace Development, Massey University, http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz.

Scuro Neto, Pedro. The Restorative Paradigm: Just Middle-Range Justice

Restorative justice is a middle-range paradigm, a promise of future systemic change, implemented on a lower level of abstraction with operational notions defined for restricted orders of conflict, in specific, localized conditions.

Van Ness, Daniel. Creating Restorative Systems

In order to increase the influence of the restorative justice movement for the future, Van Ness proposes models for measurement and conceptual understanding.

Van Ness, Daniel. The Shape of Things to Come: A Framework for Thinking about A Restorative Justice System

Daniel Van Ness begins this paper with a sketch of recent initiatives that signal a worldwide interest in restorative justice among national governments and the United Nations.

Jenkins, Morris. How Do Culture, Class and Gender Affect the Practice of Restorative Justice? (Part 1)

According to Morris Jenkins, issues of racism, classism, and sexism have long plagued the criminal justice system’s response to criminality in the United States. Restorative justice is a proposed response to criminality that may overcome these issues, he claims. To explore the problems and the potential of restorative justice with respect to the issues, Jenkins focuses in this chapter on the cultural sub-components of race and racism as they affect African Americans – this because African Americans and their communities are over-represented as offenders and victims of crime in urban settings in the United States. He discusses how restorative justice has attempted to deal with these issues of race and racism within the movement. Specifically, Jenkins considers alternative explanations for African-American crime and examines responses to crime within the African-American community that can enhance the restorative justice approach.

Thomas, Jim and Moran, Scott and Maier, Chris and Lewin-Gladney, Wendy and Evans, Tammie and Carr, James and Capps, Julie and Moran, Scott and Maier, Chris and Jacobson, Deborah and Evans, Tammie and Carr, James and Capps, Julie and Thompson, Sean and Moran, Scott and Maier, Chris and Jacobson, Deborah and Lewin-Gladney, Wendy and Evans, Tammie and Carr, James and Capps, Julie. Critiquing the Critics of Peacemaking Criminology: Some Rather Ambivalent Reflections on the Theory of 'Being Nice'

The authors of this chapter remark that a growing number of scholars have attempted to integrate “being nice� with theoretical precepts. Peacemaking criminology is an example. It blends scholarship and praxis with an ideology of social harmony and unity. Thus it risks being seen as something less than a rigorous intellectual position and more as a philosophical belief system. Hence, while interest in peacemaking criminology has increased in recent years, there has also been a corresponding increase in questions about its practical utility and intellectual consistency. Is peacemaking criminology useful as a means to reduce crime, or is it simply a catchall phrase with little substantive value beyond mobilizing some people around an emotional idealism? Unequivocally sympathizing with peacemaking criminology, yet wary of mere idealism with little substance or substantiation, the authors of this chapter explore these questions by summarizing peacemaking criminology, examining criticisms of this perspective, and identifying its potential.

Fosnaught, Jerri L. Domestic violence in the armed forces: using restorative mediation as a method to resolve disputes between service members and their significant others

Jerri Fosnaught begins this article with the observation that the armed forces have a problem. The problem is not diminishing. It may indeed be increasing. The problem consists of an alarming number of violent crimes, including incidents of domestic violence, committed by service members. Despite efforts by the armed forces to remedy the situation, domestic violence among service members occurs more frequently than it does among the civilian population. In response, Fosnaught focuses on using restorative mediation to diffuse disputes that lead to violence. Restorative mediation, she maintains, will significantly help to reduce the escalation of disputes toward domestic violence, and it will help to preserve relationships. To make her case, Fosnaught describes the extent of and reasons for this problem; discusses why the armed forces should provide a restorative mediation program for domestic disputes and conflicts; and sets forth a framework for the program.

Wachtel, Ted and McCold, Paul. From Restorative Justice to Restorative Practices: Expanding the Paradigm

Ted Wachtel is president of the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP), headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the United States. As he comments at the beginning of this paper, for the last decade IIRP has been developing a comprehensive framework for theory and practice. This framework expands the restorative paradigm beyond criminal justice. The emerging field of “restorative practices� ties together theory and research in seemingly distinct fields of study and practice. To build a case for expanding the restorative paradigm, Wachtel discusses the fundamental hypothesis of the restorative practices approach, different approaches to social control, a continuum from that which is not restorative to that which is restorative, the expression of emotions in relationships, and shame and behaviors associated with it.