Theory Articles -- Full List

Articles discussing theoretical issues related to restorative justice.

Darley, John M and Bilz, Kenworthey. What's Wrong with Harmless Theories of Punishment

In Part I, we show that when discussing particular punishment policy proposals, academics usually insist that one cannot be both a consequentialist and a retributivist at the same time; and policies that purport to do both simultaneously are assailed as incoherent. In Part II, we challenge this conclusion, by arguing that neither retributivism nor consequentialism -- either their pure or hybrid forms -- can address the issues at play in a typical punishment policy debate. This is because both are indeterminate when it comes to telling us who and what to punish, and how much. Part III is the heart of our Article. There, we use findings from philosophical and empirical literature to suggest an alternative approach to understanding the purposes of punishment -- one that focuses on a more sophisticated specification of the harms of crime. In this part, we describe the nature of the harms of crime generally, and also offer a specific schedule of potential candidates for the harms of crime. We also describe the nature of disputes about these harms; namely, that various harms either are or are not empirically real or morally worthy of recognition. We also offer two examples of how specific punishment policy debates would look different, if they focused on harms instead of on punishment philosophies. Finally, in Part IV, we offer an illustration of how the recognition of diverse crime harms can be addressed by one especially flexible and creative approach to criminal punishing: restorative justice. In this final part, we argue that a multiplicity of harms can often best be cured with a multiplicity of punishments. We also describe how several scholars are currently criticizing restorative justice for its failure to commit to a (standard) purist punishment philosophy, and we caution that forcing it to do so undermines its genuine potential for improving punishment regimes. (excerpt)

Delattre, Gerd. The beginning of a wonderful friendship? – Sports and RJ-Public Relations

A tentative partnership between restorative justice and sports in Germany was forged back in 2006 when the German Soccer Federation was connected to a symposium on restorative justice in Berlin. Since then, mediation has offered a potential solution to the problems of vandalism and violence at sports events, problems that have traditionally been handled by so-called sports courts contained in the umbrella of sports organizations. Although funding may pose a problem, there is a definite potential future in an alliance between sports and restorative justice.

Dhami, Mandeep K. and Fox, Darrell and Mantle, Greg. Restorative justice in prisons

Restorative Justice (RJ) has found significant utility outside the prison setting. For many reasons, it has not received the same level of consideration inside the institution...Although RJ has the potential to have a positive impact on the work of prisons and the experience of imprisonment, it has not found wide acceptance and is currently limited to a relatively small number of prisons and then often only delivered in partial platforms. We believe that RJ has a realistic future in prison settings and that the contradictions that may be identified are not debilitating. (Excerpt)

Dignan, James and Cavadino, Michael. Towards a framework for conceptualising and evaluating models of criminal justice from a victim's perspective

Recent empirical findings and theoretical writings are reviewed in order to evaluate 3 distinct models of restorative justice within a typology of victim-based measures proposed or adopted in the U.K.: the civilian, victim-offender reparation, and communitarian approaches. The communitarian model is the most coherent, credible and constructive challenger to the hitherto predominant retributive model. This model avoids many of the criticisms to which earlier alternative models were vulnerable.

Dispute Resolution Project. Study of Barriers to the Use of Alternative Methods of Dispute Resolution.

Five papers examine the barriers preventing the widespread use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The emergence of disputes is traced. The question of whether bureaucrats will accept environmental mediation is raised, and the need for providing incentives for agencies to use mediation is noted. The problem of enforcing negotiated agreements to environmental disputes is examined, and cost allocations for cleaning up hazardous waste sites are explored. Problems arising in the resolution of family disputes are analyzed, the legal profession's attitudes toward divorce mediation are examined, and statutes that implement the process of mediation are discussed.

Doak, Jonathan. Honing the stone: refining restorative justice as a vehicle for emotional redress.

Commentators have frequently claimed that restorative justice (RJ) programs hold the potential to deliver therapeutic outcomes. However, if we are serious about integrating a therapeutic agenda into criminal justice, our current understanding of the mechanics of RJ is incomplete. Having established a case for doing justice better, proponents of RJ now need to think in much more concrete terms about the ways in which the process is designed in order to reap a tangible sense of forgiveness, reconciliation, and closure for victims of crime. From the evidence to date, it is suggested that there are four ‘keys’ which may be used to unlock the therapeutic potential of RJ. These are: (1) personal narratives; (2) apology; (3) forgiveness; and (4) procedural justice within restorative programs. A major challenge for future research in the area is to attempt to measure how these aspects of RJ operate at a micro-level to transform emotions.(author's abstract)

Dominicus, Hans and De Souter, Vicky and Van Garsse, Leo. Collaboration practitioners – policy-makers: Possibilities to be explored – limits to be taken into account

Development of Restorative Justice does not only depend on the quality of the performed practice. The chances of practice to survive and to grow largely also have to do with networking and structural collaboration. The introduction of RJ-methods should not only be supported by a few enthusiastic initiators, but ideally has to be embedded in a global policy. Therefore it is frequently said that “bottom-up”-collaboration of practitioners with policy-makers is close to a “conditio sine qua non” - an absolute requirement - for implementing Restorative Justice. But is this at all feasible? The aim of the workshop was to explore the possibilities, the challenges but also the risks and pitfalls. (excerpt)

Doolin, Katherine. But What Does It Mean? Seeking Definitional Clarity in Restorative Justice.

This article examines, considers the effects of, and proposes resolutions to a number of significant tensions arising from the way the fundamental concepts of restorative justice are defined and used. The article uses as a framework two key issues. First, whether restorative justice should be defined primarily in terms of the process to be used or the outcomes to be achieved. Secondly, attention will be drawn to the lack of clarity in defining restoration. This article proposes a list of irreducible core values of restorative justice and contends that agreement about these will best advance the theoretical debate, assist the appraisal of restorative justice in practice and prioritise the restoration of victims and the fair treatment of offenders.(author's abstract)

Doolin, Katherine. Translating Restorative Justice into Practice: Lessons from New Zealand's Family Conferencing Approach to Youth Offending.

The paper begins with an overview of the factors that were most influential in the development of family group conferencing in New Zealand. This is followed by an explanation of the circumstances in which conferences are used with young offenders and a description of the usual procedures adopted. The chapter then critically examines the extent to which the core values of restorative justice are in fact promoted and achieved in the New Zealand approach. Particular attention is given to the values of inclusion, empowerment and restoration of victims, offenders and their families. This paper contends that family group conferences in New Zealand demonstrate the potential for a number of core restorative justice values to be implemented in practice as a positive and encouragingly successful response to youth offending. The most important lesson from the New Zealand example for the successful application of restorative justice for young offenders in other jurisdictions is that clear legislative status is essential. Nevertheless, from a restorative justice standpoint, more needs to be done to move away from an offender-focused approach to prioritise the needs and restoration of victims. Ways have to be found to encourage more victims to attend conferencing and to more fully involve those who do attend in the decision-making process. (excerpt)

Duff, R. A.. Restorative Punishment and Punitive Restoration

R. A. Duff's thesis is this: responses to crime should aim for restoration or restorative justice; but the kind of restoration necessitated by criminal wrongdoing is properly achieved through a process of retributive punishment. This can be put another way: offenders should suffer retribution for their crimes; but the essential purpose of such punishment should be to achieve restoration. His slogan, therefore, is 'Restoration through retribution.' As Duff remarks, this position puts him at odds with restorative justice advocates and with critics of restorative justice who argue in favor of a 'just deserts' retributivism. To make his case, Duff examines what restorative justice should mean in the context of wrongdoing; he then applies this perspective on restoration to crime, mediation, and punishment.

Dukes, E. Franklin. Truth, Understanding and Repair.

Based primarily upon what I have found through the course of my work with damaged communities, I have developed the following conceptual framework, which allows conflict interveners as well as the parties themselves to think clearly about the path that leads to addressing these unrightable wrongs. This framework represents both the goals of this work and the path to those goals. The framework includes truth, understanding, repair, and relationship, in that order. (excerpt)

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.

Dunn, Jennifer L.. Judging Victims: Why We Stigmatize Survivors, and How They Reclaim Respect

Dunn explores the shifting perceptions over time of victims as blameworthy, blameless, pathetic, or heroic figures. She also links those images to their real-world consequences, demonstrating that they dominate the ways in which people think about intimate violence and individual responsibility. Her analysis cuts to the core of fundamental issues at the center of debates about crime and deviance, victimization, and social problems. (Excerpt)

Durmortier, Els. Neglecting due process for minors: A possible dark side of the restorative justice implementation?

Expressing skepticism about what he perceives to be the optimistic nature of restorative justice perspectives, Dumortier scrutinizes the language of restorative justice discourse and the issue of due process for minors in the implementation of restorative justice procedures. With respect to discourse, he pays particular attention to community service and victim-offender mediation as two prototypes of restorative justice. Then he asks whether restorative justice in action equals restorative justice as described and touted in the discourse on it. Specific issues related to restorative justice in relation to juvenile justice are addressed in some detail.

Dussich, John P. J. and Schellenberg, Jill S. Promise of restorative justice: New approaches for criminal justice and beyond.

This book provides a collection of essays on the ever increasing impact of restorative justice principles and practices within criminal justice as well as within many other social situations where conflicts occur. Having begun in the 1970s as a criminal justice system reform effort, restorative justice has grown to be a social movement in the global community, a movement that has expanded beyond criminal and juvenile justice systems. This collection of essays bears witness to the ever increasing impact of restorative principles and practices as they become embodied in so much of the fabric of human life, in multiple settings. The authors of the essays tell the story of how restorative justice is ultimately a way of life, of how we treat each other in all aspects of human existence. Divided into two parts, Part 1 essays personify the broader concept of restorative justice and bring the powerful messages of the promise of restorative justice to victims and offenders. The essays in Part 2 bring those same messages to the broader world. The rallying concept of the book is that restorative justice concepts, principles, and practices need not be limited to criminal justice activities but can be appropriate and even advantageous to many other social situations where conflicts occur. (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov).

Dzur, Albert W and Olson, Susan M. The Value of Community Participation in Restorative Justice

In the words of Albert Dzur and Susan Olson, restorative justice is a normative theory and reform movement oriented around bringing dialogue and reconciliation among victim, offender, and community to the center of criminal justice. Despite its success after a number of years of exploration, experimentation, and implementation, restorative justice is an amalgam of empirical expectations and normative ideals yet to be fully realized. Dzur and Olson point to community participation in restorative justice dialogue as one such ideal. For them, the prospect of community participation in restorative justice is intriguing because it corresponds closely with idealized accounts of public deliberation in deliberative democratic theory. With all of this in mind, Dzur and Olson argue that restorative justice explanations of the value of community dialogue in restorative justice practices are marked by a tension between 'progressive' and 'traditionalist' interpretations.

Dzur, Albert W. Civic implications of restorative justice theory: Citizen participation and criminal justice policy

Restorative justice, a normative theory and reform movement emphasizing dialogue and reconciliation between victim, offender, and community, is a widespread, if experimental, part of the practice of criminal justice in the United States. This essay argues that restorative justice draws connections between civic engagement and punishment practices that distinguish it as a normative theory of criminal justice. Advocates of restorative justice expect the growth of non-punitive attitudes and the weakening of support for incarceration to emerge from a public and lay-oriented context of adjudication. The role of lay participation in achieving social change, although prominent in restorative justice critiques of mainstream criminal justice norms and practices, has not been clearly articulated in practical terms. Significant ambiguities remain regarding the degree of lay participation, scope of authority, and the focus of restorative justice forums. The essay argues that an adequate assessment of restorative justice experiments should include an analysis of their impact on public attitudes towards crime and crime control policy and not simply on their impact on the specific victims and offenders involved. The link between less incarceration and restorative justice forums is public willingness to grant them the authority to hear and sanction offenses that would ordinarily receive incarceration. Whether and how they can influence broader public attitudes, then, is a critical test of restorative justice effectiveness. Author's abstract.

Eastern Kentucky University, Training Resource Center. Balanced and Restorative Justice

This 2-hour U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention funded videoconference held in 2001 reviewed the Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) Model that outlined an alternative philosophy, restorative justice, and a new mission, "the balanced approach" requiring juvenile justice professionals to devote attention to: (1) enabling offenders to make amends to their victims and community; (2) increasing offender competencies so that they become competent, caring individuals, who can pursue crime free, productive lives; and (3) protecting the public through processes where individual victims, the community, and offenders are all active participants. BARJ builds on existing programs and practices, such as victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, community service, restitution, and work experience. In better understanding this model, the telecast examined and explored three metropolitan communities that had implemented the BARJ Model within their respective justice systems; Community Intensive Supervision Program (CISP) in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Washington County Community Justice and BIHA Women in Action Peacemaking Circles in Minnesota; and the Colorado Forum and Community and Restorative Justice in Denver. The BARJ Model responded to many issues raised by the victims’ movement, including concerns that victims had little input into the resolution of their own cases, rarely felt heard, and often received no restitution or expression of remorse from the offender. The Model was seen as a vision for the future of juvenile justice built on current innovative practices and based on core community values.

Editor. "Simple Society" Statements Focus on Restorative vs. Retributive Justice

The New Hampshire-based Simple Alliance for Human Empowerment recently organized an electronic dialogue on restorative vs. retributive justice. The "Simple Society" was established in 1993 by John Watkins, who was motivated by his conviction that there are infinitely simpler, more cost-effective and more humane approaches to most of society's problems. According the group's Website (http://simsoc.org), "Complexity is not only a significant barrier to solving problems, it may have become the principal problem. (Watkins) believes that complexity is the result of a fragmented approach to problem solving. The fragmented approach is usually caused by the lack of a unified vision of principled human relationship." In this issue, we reprint edited versions of the "opening statements" of several of those persons who participated in this dialogue. (excerpt)

Editor. Newsletter Fall 2007

This issue of the Central Virginia Restorative Justice newsletter contains an article discussing the merits and uses of reintegrative shaming.