When a crime is committed and an individual is caught in the act, there is a set process that one follows to adhere to the rules of the criminal justice system. This method can be simplified by looking at the common flow of events: (1) an individual is arrested, (2) individual is brought to court, (3) individual receives a punishment. Though it may appear that the way in which the criminal justice system functions is sufficient, many voice the concern that there are certain key players affected by crimes that are consistently disregarded. These players are otherwise known as the victims and the community. As a result, many have hypothesized a new approach to justice that incorporate all aspects of crime. This approach is one that simultaneously …show more content…
Most of the time this results in prison sentencing. But when the only action is to lock people up, it doesn’t require that the individual act in a certain way, or change. Instead, it excuses the offender from answering for what they have done or punishes them in a way that does not consider the individual criminal and his or her crimes on others and such crimes impact on the overall community. Restorative justice is a victim-led process to hold offenders accountable while concurrently fulfilling the needs of all parties involved (Keenan and Joyce, 2013). This essay will critically evaluate the guiding principles of restorative justice, and more specifically look at the benefits of applying this method to sexual violence and domestic violence cases; this will be done by examining common procedures and guidelines, understanding the strengths and weaknesses, and observing specific case …show more content…
Though there are core principles and guidelines, the way each case is handled is heavily based on context. The main objectives that drive restorative justice practices in sexual violence cases are “reparation, retribution, and rehabilitation of the community” (Wolthuis et al., 2015). Restorative justice seeks to find a way that “maximizes healing for all parties and minimizes the chance of the process inadvertently causing harm” (Restorative justice standards for sexual offending cases, 2013). Particularly in sexual violence cases, the primary focus in a restorative justice case is to lower the potential chances of harm. The principles are set in place to allow the victim to have a chance to hold the offender accountable while having the opportunity to voice one's story. Multiple studies have shown that giving the victim a voice provides a sense of closure needed to heal. Often times, the traditional court setting doesn’t allow for the victim to directly express the entire story (Daly,
* * * I feel that it would be impossible to ensure that there were the safeguards in place to protect society from your possible actions.” (victim parent, 2002). As empathetic starts, citizens will side with the victims of the defendant’s crimes because they belief the defendant’s crimes were out of evil and cruel torture and deserves all the punishment he can get and not get a break and let back to society where he has the ability to commit potential
Dangerous exits: Escaping abusive relationships in rural America Introduction “A key objective of this book is to give voice to a marginalized group of women who, for the most part, have suffered in silence” (DeKeseredy & Schwartz, 2002). The book Dangerous Exits: Escaping abusive relationships in rural America, gives insight to the hushed topic of intimate partner violence and specifically women experiencing violence from attempting to leave their partner. Women are constantly advised to end relationships that turn violent, but this act could potentially put them at greater risk for further victimization. The authors take on a feminist approach to try and decipher this phenomenon of “a war against women”.
110). According to the author, the aim of restorative justice is to heal communities from an incident where people were harmed and, ideally, help prevent the same thing from happening again. I believe that, there is going to be a higher possibility of crime reduction in schools and in different neighborhood if victims and offenders mediate a restitution agreement to the satisfaction of each other. In conjunction to this, if the government can be more committed in supporting these approaches, I believe that there will be a massive drop in crime
A “truth and reconciliation model involves providing a public forum for survivors/victims to testify to the events of their victimization and for offenders to admit previous wrongdoing, take responsibility, and ask forgiveness”(Colvin & Hill, 2020). This process provides the survivors/victims to be heard and share their traumatic experiences and to allow the offenders to take responsibility for their actions and correct the wrong they did. Both sides contribute to healing and growing. Survivors/victims are able to heal through confronting their offender and understanding why their offender behaved the way they did while the offender is able to learn and grow from their mistakes. They do recognize that this process is only in the beginning of what they hope will turn into a system that will be implemented in all states and countries.
This type of community-based option has proven to be quite effective in easing the reintegration process, but there are additional programs that offer an even more personal and interactive approach. Circles of Support and Accountability is a perfect example; COSA works with people who have committed crimes, specifically sex offenders, to reintegrate them into communities where they feel unwelcome and unwanted. The core members of the program learn how to, “carry out basic aspects of community life such as looking for work or accommodation and adjusting to life outside of prison. In addition, the volunteers hold the [offenders] to account for their own reintegration” (Clarke et al, p. 3). This is one of the main reasons the program has proven
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.
Victim witness programs are used by the government in order to provide support and assistance to those who fall victim to a crime. According to Victim Witness Program, the primary goals of such programs, include but are not limited to, encouraging victims to participate in any parole and supervised release processes of their offender, notify and facilitate victims in participation of any hearing or release dates in regards to their offender, provide options for supportive services, and advocate for crime victims (2015, para.1). The organization under which the victim-witness program is located is under a system, which has many internal constituencies, thus creating competing and conflicting purposes. The goals of the victim-witness program are quite simple and seek out to give the victim the right to be represented during the processing of the offender, however, given the multiple roles the court, for example, must serve, the goals of the victim-witness program can be both complex and conflicting.
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).
The main components that make up our Criminal Justice system are the agencies of law enforcement, judicial court system, and corrections. These three component entities function separately but each work together with each other to achieve the purposes of maintaining law and order, and the public safety of their respective communities that each serves in administering justice. Each of the aforementioned three components generally encompasses a point of view defined as the consensus model (Schmalleger, 2016). The consensus model is a perspective in the criminal justice field which assumes that each of the system’s components press towards a overall achievement and the movement of incidents (cases) and individuals through the process runs smoothly
Starmer contends that, any debate about victims’ rights in a criminal justice context has to start with the criminal law itself. To him, unless the law ‘adequately and effectively’ protects the rights of victims, there can be no question of a criminal investigation and prosecution. This fundamental proposition was accepted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) when it found a violation of the rights of a 16-year-old rape victim where her mental handicap was such that she was unable to make a personal complaint and her father was not authorised to file one on her behalf. The Court ruled that civil remedies were not an adequate response to serious wrongdoing, thus effectively creating a right of access to criminal
Explained below are two of the most enduring models which offer explanations as to how agencies and policies may be shaped and they can usefully be viewed as opposite ends of a continuum since they present contrasting rationale and characteristics - the Crime Control and DueProcess models.(Packer, 1964) Crime control and due process models not only exist within certain periods of history, but they can also exist by actual practice in a criminal courtroom, through the philosophical approach based on the type of case. Before beginning assessment of the criminal justice system, it is important to comprehend how overall cases are completed through the criminal justice process of arrest, probable cause, arraignment, trial, and
The criminal justice system is exceptionally effective in ensuring just outcomes for victims, offenders and society. The criminal justice system is the framework of rulings and laws that aim to protect community members and their property and determine the criminality of certain events and punish criminal offenders through a process developed to achieve justice. The criminal justice system is composed of three complementary parts, the criminal investigation, the criminal trial and sentencing and punishment all of which work collectively to achieve just outcomes for victims, offenders and society, where justice is seen in that all people are subject to the same laws and the same consequences for breaching those laws. Such a system is held back
There are three components that make up the criminal justice system – the police, courts, and correctional facilities – they all work together in order to protect individuals and their rights as a citizen of society to live without the fear of becoming the victim of a crime. Crime, simply put is when a person violates criminal law; the criminal justice system is society’s way of implementing social control. When all three components of the criminal justice work together, it functions almost perfectly. For a person to enter the criminal justice system, the process must begin with the law enforcement.
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.