Theory Articles -- Full List

Articles discussing theoretical issues related to restorative justice.

Claassen, Ron. Restorative Justice Principles: 'Restorative Justice' Primary Focus on People, Not Procedures

In this article the author introduces a series of articles that originally appeared in the VORP newsletter of the Central Valley in California. (They were based on two presentations given by the author at the 1996 National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution.) Noting similarities between the criminal justice system and discipline systems in schools, Claassen presents 11 principles of restorative justice that he claims would, if recognized and practiced, reduce violence and increase overall safety and cooperation.

Claassen, Ron. Two Useful Models for Implementing Restorative Justice

I came into this field after being a teacher of mathematics. Patterns and models are important to me. When reading Getting Disputes Resolved by Ury, Brett, and Goldberg, I was stimulated to search for a pictorial model to represent power, rights, and interests. What emerged was the Four Options Model. (extract) I

Collins, Robin. "Understanding atonement: A new and orthodox theory."

In this essay, Collins studies the Christian notion of the Atonement. Asserting the essential place of the doctrine of the Atonement in Christian thought and faith, while seeking an orthodox theory of the Atonement (he distinguishes doctrine and theory), Collins critiques the satisfaction and penal theories of the Atonement that have dominated Western theology. After a summary of theories of the Atonement in Western theology, Collins addresses the problems he sees in the satisfaction and penal theories. In particular he faults them for being fundamentally judicial or juridical in character. With all of this in mind, he proposes an incarnational theory in which the Atonement is fundamentally based in or characterized by God’s grace and love for creation. Then he presents key advantages the incarnational theory has over other theories. This leads to a discussion of practical implications of the incarnational theory – for example, God’s special concern for redeeming the situation of the poor, the widow, the orphan, the prisoner, and any one who suffers. Collins’ paper includes an appendix written later that extends his perspectives on this theory.

Connolly, Marie . Family group conferences in child welfare: the fit with restorative justice.

In recent decades, restorative practices have become an important aspect of service delivery in both youth justice and in the care and protection of children. Restorative justice, as an overarching term, has also been used to describe restorative practices, particularly with respect to the use of family group conferencing, across these two practice domains. There are, however, significant differences in these two areas of practice that create theoretical and philosophical tensions when attempting to incorporate them under a restorative justice banner. This article explores these tensions and concludes that while care and protection practice has restorative elements, significant differences set it apart from restorative justice. In arguing for greater clarity between the two at a theoretical and philosophical level, the paper encourages us to explore important opportunities to enrich each practice domain with the values and principles of both. (author's abstract)

Consedine, Jim. Restorative Justice – Creative Peacemaking.

This article outlines the problems with a purely retributive view of justice. It goes on to describe principles of Biblical justice and restorative justice.

Cordella, Peter and Tifft, Larry and Sullivan, Dennis. The Phenomenon of Restorative Justice: Some Introductory Remarks.

This article offers an overview of the restorative justice movement as it presently exists. It addresses not only the key elements of restorative justice theory and practice but also its unique dimension of "transformative justice." The relationship between restorative justice and social structure change is examined as well as the relationship between restorative justice and an emerging criminological perspective known as peacemaking criminology. (author's abstract)

Cornwell, David J. The Penal Crisis and The Clapham Omnibus: Questions and Answers in Resotrative Justice.

The title selected for this volume, The Penal Crisis and the Clapham Omnibus: Questions and Answers in Restorative Justice, represents a deliberate attempt to bring together and discuss issues that critically affect the development of restorative justice as a mainstream penology for the future. Each of the three parts of this book consists of five chapters, the titles of which take the form of questions that are central to an understanding of the present penal crisis in England and Wales, its development and effects, and the way in which a restorative penology might assist in resolving the difficulties engulfing the penal system. (excerpt)

Costello, Bob and O'Connell, Terry. Restorative Practices in the Workplace

This presentation provides a practical insight into the use of restorative practices in workplaces. It will show how restorative practices, when located within a sound relational framework, have the capacity to change the way workplaces deal with those tensions which potentially, undermine mutual trust and cooperation. Given that we spend so much of our time at work, we need to be conscious of what builds effective workplace relationships. Modeling restorative practices in all our workplace interactions - informally or formally - will make a positive contribution to relationships because their emphasis is directed at satifying the principles of fair process. Individuals are then likely to feel valued, and contribute in constructive and responsive ways. For supervisors and managers, restorative approaches around tensions and workplace difficulties can provide the sort of modelling which engenders trust and commitment. It also provides ways of identifying and resolving early, those difficulties which historically have the potential to escalate. Author's abstract

Coster, Sarah. The Pitcairn Island criminal trials - How has restorative justice featured?

The amassed circumstances surrounding the trials involving 13 men charged with sexual offending on Pitcairn Island (a British Overseas Territory in the Pacific with a population of 47) make them some of the most extraordinary trials in criminal history. The situation has already raised many fascinating questions of law and justice. Quite apart from the issues within the individual trials themselves, this case has involved pre-trial applications questioning the status of Pitcairn law and challenging the jurisdiction of the Pitcairn courts. Consideration of whether to run the trials on the small, isolated island also raised fundamental issues of justice, while the practical outworking of doing so has highlighted tensions existing within the community. Restorative Justice has featured in the mix of issues to date, having been variously mooted by some Pitcairn Islanders, Restorative Justice advocates, and other observers, as a potential means of dealing with the situation. Some have proposed restorative justice as a substitute for the trials, others as an aspect of sentencing, and others as an adjunct to the existing criminal process. This presentation will note the various forms of restorative justice that have been suggested in relation to the trial, and will identify some issues to be considered surrounding those proposals from a theoretical perspective. Abstract courtesy of the Centre for Justice and Peace Development, Massey University, http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz.

Cullen, Francis T and Wozniak, John F and Levrant, Sharon and Fulton, Betsy. Reconsidering Restorative Justice: The Corruption of Benevolence Revisited?

Observing the increasing popularity of restorative justice as a correctional paradigm among both liberals and conservatives, the authors acknowledge value in the restorative justice approach. However, they find the ready embrace of restorative justice problematic in two respects. One, there is a danger that restorative justice programs will be corrupted to serve nonprogressive goals; the authors see this as the possible corruption of benevolence. Two, there is little reason to think that restorative justice programs will meaningfully reduce offender recidivism. This paper examines these two problematic areas in detail. In general, the authors urge caution concerning restorative justice until further scrutiny of these issues can be conducted, including more rigorous research on restorative justice outcomes.

Cunneen, Chris and Hoyle, Carolyn. Debating restorative justice.

In this first volume of the series Carolyn Hoyle argues that communities and the state should be more restorative in responding to harms caused by crimes, antisocial behaviour and other incivilities. She supports the exclusive use of restorative jsutice for many non-serious offences, and favours approaches that, by integrating restorative and retributive philosophies, take restorative practices into the 'deep end' of criminal justice. While acknowledging that restorative justice appears to have much to offer in terms of criminal justice reform, Chris Cunneen offers a different account, contending that the theoretical cogency of restorative ideas is limited by their lack of a coherent analysis of social and political power. He goes on to argue that after several decades of experimentation, restorative justice has not produced significant change in the criminal justice system and that the attempt to establish it as a feasible alternative to dominant practices of criminal justice has failed. This lively and valuable debate will be of great interest to everyone interested in the criminal justice system. (publisher's description).

Cuzzo, Maria Stalzer Wyant. The code of the peaceful warrior: A restorative justice response to recent events.

Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States, some asked Maria Cuzzo (lawyer, teacher, and practitioner of mediation and conflict resolution) about the possibilities of a mediation or restorative justice response to the events. Cuzzo therefore re-examines basic principles of restorative justice and tests their applicability in light of those attacks. Out of this she develops and states what she calls the "code of the peaceful warrior" rooted in restorative justice values and a vigorous commitment to working for peace.

Daicoff, Susan. Therapeutic Jurisprudence at the Conference of the International Association of Law & Mental Health in Padua, Italy: Growing Pains: The Integration vs. Specialization Question for Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Other Comprehensive Law Approaches

The history and definition of therapeutic jurisprudence and the comprehensive law movement will be briefly discussed, and the current status of training in these movements will be explored. The advantages and disadvantages of integration versus specialization will be debated. Finally, various obstacles to the growth of the movements will be discussed. (excerpt)

Daly, Erin. Truth Skepticism: An Inquiry into the Value of Truth in Times of Transition.

Truth commissions have become so fashionable in times of transition that one can readily recognize what might be called a ‘truth cascade.’ The commissions, and the reports they produce, are reputed to promote many of the goals at the heart of the transitional justice project: helping victims to heal, promoting accountability, drawing a bright line between the past and the present, promoting reconciliation and so forth. And yet, a closer look at the truth-seeking enterprise suggests that it may not be able to deliver on these promises. This article explores both the intrinsic and instrumental reasons why truth commissions may not be effective in promoting the goals attributed to them. The article does not argue that transitional governments should not pursue the truth, but it does urge governments to use caution and careful planning when they do so. (author's abstract)

Daly, Kathleen and Stubbs, Julie. Feminist engagement with restorative justice

Feminist engagement with the idea of restorative justice (RJ) takes several forms, and this article maps five areas of theory, research, and politics. They are: theories of justice; the role of retribution in criminal justice; studies of gender in RJ processes; the appropriateness of RJ for partner, sexual, or family violence; and the politics of race and gender in making justice claims. There is overlap among the five, and some analysts or arguments may work across them. However, each has a particular set of concerns and a different kind of engagement with the idea of RJ. (excerpt)

Daly, Kathleen. New Visions of Justice

Crime control and justice policies have always been varied, but as O’Malley says (1999, p 176), there now exists an unprecedented “state of penological inconsistency”. Alternative justice forms, such as meetings between victims and offenders, or magistrates who take an active interest in helping defendants, sit alongside mandatory sentences for certain repeat offenders. Put simply, policies of inclusion sit alongside those of exclusion in any one country, and countries vary in the degree to which their policies are tipped more toward inclusion than exclusion. This chapter reviews and compares three innovative and inclusion-oriented approaches to justice: restorative justice, contemporary forms of Indigenous justice, and therapeutic jurisprudence. (author's abstract)

Daly, Kathleen. Revisiting the relationship between retributive and restorative justice

Convinced that this is a critical issue for advocates of restorative justice, Daly raises the question of the role of punishment in restorative justice. She frames the question largely in relation to certain restorative justice processes -- namely, family conferences as used in response to youth crime in Australia and New Zealand. Her discussion proceeds through elaboration of a series of points or assertions about retributive and restorative justice: (1) the retributive-restorative oppositional contrast is wrong; (2) there are key differences in traditional and restorative justice; (3) restorative justice processes and outcomes are alternative punishments, not alternatives to punishment; (4) there is reason to assert a complex meshing of censure, symbolic reparation, restorative processes, and "just-ness"; and (5) there are ethical problems in the practice of restorative justice.

Daly, Kathleen. Seeking Justice in the 21st Century: Towards an Intersectional Politics of Justice

After setting the political and personal contexts, defining key terms, and comparing Indigenous and restorative justice, I clarify three interrelated sites of contestation between and among feminist and anti-racist groups as these relate to alternative justice practices. They are the inequality caused by crime (victims and offenders), social divisions (race and gender politics), and individuals and collectivities (rights of offenders and victims). I outline an intersectional politics of justice, which seeks to address the conflicts at each site. My intersectional framework attempts to align victims’ and offenders’ interests in ways that are not a zero sum game, and to find common ground between feminist and anti-racist justice claims by identifying the negotiating moves each must make. It proposes that victims and offenders have positive rights that are not compromised by collectivities. (author's abstract)

Daly, Kathleen. The limits of Restorative Justice

This chapter addresses a selected set of limits of RJ, those concerning its scope and its practices. My discussion is selective and limited. I do not consider the discursive limits of liberal legality as these are viewed through a postmodern lens, not do I consider related problems when nation states or communities cannot imagine particular offences or understand ‘ultra-Others’. My focus instead is on the limits of current RJ practices, when applied to youth justice cases in common law jurisdictions. There are other contexts where RJ can be applied, including adult criminal cases; non-criminal contexts (school disputes and conflicts; workplace disputes and conflicts; and child welfare); and responding to broader political conflict as a form of transitional justice practice, among other potential sites. I focus on RJ in youth justice cases because it currently has a large body of empirical evidence. However, as RJ is increasingly being applied in adult cases and in different contexts (pre- or post-sentence advice, for example, as is now the case in England and New Zealand) we might expect to see different kings of limits emerging. (excerpt)

Dansie, Elizabeth J.. A multigroup analysis of reintegrative shaming theory: An application to drunk driving offenses.

A restorative justice alternative to crime prevention termed reintegrative shaming theory by Braithwaite has seen increased attention as an alternative to retributive justice, although empirical investigations of its efficacy are limited. The purpose of the present study was to test confirmatory measurement and structural models of reintegrative shaming theory in order to assess the underlying theoretical model and the application of this theory in response to drunk driving offenses. Nine latent constructs were included in these models: reintegration, stigmatization, perceived fairness, self-esteem, shame-guilt, embarrassment-exposure, unresolved shame, offender responsibility, and family support. Multigroup structural equation modeling was used to assess for measurement invariance of indicators used to measure these nine latent constructs between 724 drunk driving offenders randomly assigned to traditional court processing versus offenders assigned to reintegrative shaming conferencing following arrest. Partial metric and partial scalar invariance were found. Thus, analyses proceeded by conducting tests for significant differences in the latent means between groups. Offenders assigned to conferencing reported significantly higher mean values on the constructs reintegration, perceived fairness, self-esteem, shame-guilt, and family support, supporting Braithwaite's theory. Finally, a structural model was hypothesized based upon Braithwaite's theory to assess the relationships between the latent constructs. Three additional structural paths were included to achieve an acceptable model fit. This structural model was found to be partially invariant between groups. As predicted, a higher level of reintegration was associated with greater perceived fairness, while a higher level of stigmatization was related to decreased self-esteem and lower perceived fairness. In turn, greater self-esteem and perceived fairness were significantly related to higher reported experiences of shameguilt and lower ratings of embarrassment-exposure. Greater perceived fairness also corresponded to lower reported unresolved shame. Finally, greater shame-guilt was significantly related to greater offender responsibility and family support, while unresolved shame was significantly related to less offender responsibility acceptance. The findings from the current study support Braithwaite's hypotheses regarding the importance and benefits of disapproving of the criminal act and not the person, while allowing offenders to accept responsibility for their actions and attempt to remediate the wrong that they committed. (author's abstract)