Restorative justice
Restorative justice is an approach to criminal justice that focuses on repairing the harm caused by criminal behavior rather than merely punishing the offender. Emerging in the 1970s as part of the victims' rights movement, it emphasizes a nonadversarial process that brings together victims, offenders, and community members to address the needs resulting from a crime. This model requires offenders to acknowledge their responsibility for their actions and the impact on victims' lives. Various programs exist under the restorative justice framework, such as victim-offender mediation, family group conferences, and circle sentencing, each designed to foster dialogue and healing among all parties involved.
Research has shown that restorative justice can lead to reduced recidivism rates and improved well-being for victims, who often feel empowered through the process. This approach is not only gaining traction in Western societies but also draws from traditional practices seen in many Indigenous cultures, where community healing and rehabilitation take precedence over punitive measures. In recent years, restorative justice has been applied in educational settings to address behavioral issues, particularly in response to increased challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, restorative justice presents an alternative that seeks to promote healing and reintegration rather than solely punishment.
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Restorative justice
Restorative justice emphasizes repairing the damage done by a crime; it is an alternative to the retributive, punishment-based systems in common use in the United States and much of rest of the world. Restorative justice is a nonadversarial approach that seeks to bring together those affected by a crime, including at a minimum the offender and victim, in a process that requires the offender to accept responsibility for their behavior and its consequences. Although restorative justice is not suitable for all circumstances, programs implementing the restorative justice model have been shown to produce positive results for the offender, the victim, and the community.
Overview
Restorative justice is a relatively new approach to criminal justice in Western societies, emerging in the 1970s as part of the victims’ rights movement, while also aligning with interest in finding alternatives to the court system to resolve disputes. Apart from the United States, modern restorative justice programs have been developed in Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and the movement was considerably strengthened when the American Bar Association endorsed victim-offender mediation in 1994.
The restorative justice process views a crime as an injury to an individual, rather than to an impersonal state, and focuses on who has been hurt, their needs, and who is obligated to address their needs and repair the wrongs of the crime. This contrasts with the retributive approach to justice, which focuses on what laws were broken, by whom, and how that person should be punished. Because one requirement of restorative justice is that the perpetrator accept responsibility for their crime, participation in restorative justice programs must be voluntary, and is often reserved for a select group of offenders—for instance, first-time offenders and/or those who have committed relatively minor crimes.
Several types of modern restorative justice programs are currently in use. In family group conferences, the victim, offender, and family and friends of both parties come together for a facilitated discussion about the crime. With victim-impact panels, a small group of crime victims (usually not including the specific victim of the perpetrator, but victims of similar crimes) speak to the perpetrator about how the crime has affected their lives, to help the perpetrator realize the consequences of his or her actions. In victim-mediator mediation, crime victims meet the perpetrator in a structured setting, with a dual focus on getting the perpetrator to realize the impact of his or her crime and to make amends for it, and empowering the victim and allowing him or her to achieve closure. In circle sentencing, the victim, offender, friends and family, representatives of the justice system, and community members meet and take turns discussing the crime and identifying steps necessary to help restore the affected parties and prevent future crimes.
Many benefits have been found for restorative justice programs, including reduced recidivism and increased well-being of victims, many of whom reported that the process helps them deal with their feelings of fear, anger, and guilt. Perpetrators of crimes typically report being positively changed by the restorative process as well. Restorative justice has been proposed as a means of reforming the prison system in the United States, as more people see its advantage over simply punitive action.
Although relatively new to Western societies, the practice of restorative justice has often been utilized by differing Native American and First Nation cultures. In an interview with the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP), Robert Yazzie, the Chief Justice Emeritus of the Navajo Nation Supreme Court, likened the modern Western concept of restorative justice to ideals that have long defined the tribal courts of the Navajo Nation, particularly in regard to the Navajo Nation's ideal of hozhooji naat’aanii (peacemaking), which promotes the respect, rehabilitation, and reintegration of the individual instead of punishment as a purely punitive means. Restorative justice practices can also be found in the Hualapai Nation and the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne Justice Department, which have both developed modern tribal justice systems founded on ideals that promote communal peace and healing instead of the strict punishment of the offender.
Restorative justice has likewise been promoted in school settings as a way to handle disciplinary measures. Restorative justice practices saw an increase in usage following the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to higher rates of student misbehavior and chronic absenteeism in many districts. To combat those concerning trends, some districts implemented restorative justice models, which viewed delinquencies as harmful to a large web of relationships in schools and focused on healing that harm instead of punishing the perpetrator.
Bibliography
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