In the past, the response to cases involving criminal injustice has been to punish the offender. Restorative justice, however, suggests an alternative approach which attempts to shift the response from punitive to repairing of damage and fixing of the problem. It is a process whereby all the parties to a particular offence come together to respond collectively on how to deal with the consequences of the offence and its implications for the future. Restorative justice does not only help the victim and the offender but also involves the communities they live in, which includes the families of both victim and offender. Communities are also by crime and should be considered as secondary victims. Restorative justice thus has three hallmarks; encounters between victims and offenders, the obligation to repair harm and the expectation that transformation may take place.
1 1 Restorative versus retributive justice
A distinction must be made between Retributive justice and Restorative justice. Retributive justice is where the offender is prosecuted and brought to court in order to be found guilty and pay for what they did. Central focus is the offender getting what they deserve. Restorative justice on the other hand is a process to involve, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in a specific offense to collectively identify and address harms, needs and obligations in order to heal and put things as right as possible. Central focus is the needs of the victims and
Money is everything in today’s world, more money means more power , so corporations for their major contributions to the economy by giving jobs and paying taxes are favoured by judges whilst an individual is nothing to compare, and yet again corporation can afford to hire better lawyers than what an individual could, rarely does it happen that you hear on the news about an individual who beat a corporation in a court debate, also because of the toll and srees that an individual would have to go through in order to beat a corporation in court. Natalie DeFreitas has made numerous points as to why restorative justice as better than/more effective than the current law system here in Canada. The speaker talked about the 70% recurrence of crimes whereas only 15% repeat crimes after restorative justice, Texas’ crime rates and jail enrollment have dropped, the cost of jail enrollment is 115,000 CAD$ for one year per person, whereas restorative justice only costs about 10,000 CAD$ for the same person throughout the same term and how much more effective can restorative justice be with a provided life example of John’s case, the bottom line is that restorative justice reduces crimes, improves the lives of criminals by healing and makes communities a safer
Some benefits reduce crime victims’ post-traumatic stress systems and it reduces crime victims’ desire for violent rage against their offenders. It also reduces repeat offending for some offenders although not all. Circle Justice has many benefits but It also has lots of weaknesses such as how its inability to prevent potential for uneven or discriminating outcomes for sentencing and restitution, it encourages perpetrators of crimes to restore the harm they created. In US Criminal
Restorative Justice past practices and activities that are popular within the Restorative justice movement are Prisoner rights and alternatives to prisons, which is a program to change prison condition and minimize incarceration sentencing, Conflict Resolution is a program that creates neighborhood justice centers available to the community. The Victim offender Reconciliation program (VORPs) is a meeting between the victim and the community, Victim-Offender Mediation (VOMS) is mediation between the victim and the offender, Victim Advocacy is the victim rights group which focused on the efforts for restitution for the crime. The family group conferences (FGCs) allow the victim and family and the offenders to meet. The Sentencing Circle includes
It also had significant benefits for the victims as they were allowed to work through the emotions of their victimization in a more healthy manner and in a safe and supported environment (Strang et al., 2012). While restorative justice conferencing still needs some improvements to have an overall efficient and effective response to criminal offending, early research indicates that it is a more progressive and successful approach to reducing crime in comparison to the traditional goals of criminal
Within the judicial and criminal justice systems, restorative justice is seen as a forward moving process in regards to the way in which the sentencing of offenders is handled (Britto & Reimund, 2013). Restorative justice works to focus on the needs of both the victim and the offender but incorporates the community as well as those who support both the victim and offender (Britto & Reimund, 2013). The approach of restorative justice in not simply a means by which society responds to and reduces crime but instead, provides an equivalently valuable social response to crime (Dancig-Rosenberg and Galt, 2013). Furthermore, the restorative approach places emphasis on the personal and relational harms which were caused by the crime while creating space for dialogue concerning the actual damage, whether directly or
It appears on the multiple studies reviewed in this report there is a variation in the response pending the severity of the offense and the type of restorative justice utilized. It is indicated Sentencing Circles are consistent in all arenas; they report a low recidivism rate in relation to all levels of crime severity. Over all, recidivism rates were down with restorative justice programs when compared to traditional programs. Statistics reported dependable results noting when offenders did re-offend the crimes were not as violent or severe and this was found not to be the circumstance with traditional programs (Umbreit, Vos, & Coates, 2006, p.
For example, a teenager steals an old lady’s purse and when exposed to restorative justice, the teenager has to give back all the money that they stole. It has nothing to do with handing out justice equally, it’s about restoring the feeling of safety and peace of mind to the victim and the community as a
This type of justice system is designed very differently when compared with the retributive justice system. The restorative justice system endeavours to bring the victim and the offender together and allow them to speak with each other in the hopes to support the healing process. It will enable the victims to express themselves to the offender and lets the offender apologize and express their feelings to the victim. The restorative justice system often offers the victims of crime closure. The system encourages both parties to reveal themselves to each other and develop a solution for the future to satisfy both parties involved.
This process will ensure that each offender receives the proper punishment and that the community is satisfied with the decision. The offender-based models, retributive and utilitarian, does not help the victim recover. Restorative justice is designed
Restorative Justice processes are likely to reduce criminals from repeating offenses, as numerous recidivism studies have demonstrated. Thus, it would be more than justified to employ restorative processes a response to crimes under
Today our justice system has a multitude of options when dealing with those who are convicted of offenses. However, many argue that retributive justice is the only real justice there is. This is mainly because its advantage is that it gives criminals the appropriate punishment that they deserve. The goals of this approach are clear and direct. In his book The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Zehr Howard (2002), illustrates that the central focus of retributive justice is offenders getting what they deserve (p. 30).
Overall I think that restorative justice would be a good idea for the United States as long as there is some regulation of it. I think this because it can help everyone who was involved and affected by the crime. Restorative justice can also help the offender to live a more normal life after and hopefully lead them in the right
The Restorative Justice System focuses on problem solving, liabilities, and obligations. It focuses on the future instead of the past. It would help the boys take responsibility for their actions and be able to restore the crime they committed in the community. The four boys are also first time offenders, which also plays a huge factor because you can see they never intended for what they did to turn out so bad in the end. For the Restorative Justice System you have to be first time offenders so that they are able to help you.
Punishment is an infliction of a penalty that resulted from an offence. Punishment is also naturally justified when administered to those who deserve it. Retributivists claim that people who break the law deserve the punishment they get. Retributivism views punishment as a fair judgment and believe that the state should punish those who are found guilty of their wrongdoing because they deserve it. A person deserves the same treatment they inflict on others.
Batley (2005) stated that restorative justice is about restoring, healing and re- integrating victims, offenders, as well as the society and also preventing further harm. In this assignment, I will be discussing approaches to restorative justice and illustrating their advantages and disadvantages to offending. I will also provide the applications of these five approaches of restorative justice which are retributive approach, utilitarian deterrence approach, rehabilitation approach, restitution approach and restorative approach in the given case study. I will then explain my preferred approach to justice through identifying a personal belief or value that underpins my choice.