Restorative Justice and Earned Redemption

Abstract

The author provides a comprehensive discussion of the roots of the new reintegrative and restorative justice theories as well as the success of current, preliminary applications of these theories. Arguing that the traditional and opposing theories of the retributive paradigm and the treatment model offer only a simplistic choice between helping or hurting offenders, the author contends that these systems fail to address adequately the needs of communities and victims. In place of these two paradigms, he suggests a new model that he terms reintegrative or restorative justice. This new theory, based on specific cultural approaches to crime found in New Zealand, Japan, and elsewhere, seeks to address the needs of communities and victims through apology and reparation, a process that hopefully leads to the reintegration of offenders into society.

Can At-Risk Youth Be Diverted From Crime?

“…RJ approaches focus primarily on the restoration of harms, rather than on retribution against the offender (Bazemore, 1998), and the RJ response to crime differs substantially from the traditional criminal justice system in terms of approach, nature of the proceedings, and the involvement of victims (Cormier, 2002;Kurki, 1999;Zehr & Mika, 1997).…”

The long-term impact of restorative justice programming for juvenile offenders

“…Restorative justice (RJ) advocates often distinguish restorative programs from traditional programs based on the dichotomy between 'retribution' (i.e., 'an eye for an eye' philosophy) and 'restoration' (i.e., repairing the harms associated with crime) (Bazemore, 1998). In addition, the restorative justice response to crime is often contrasted with traditional system processing in terms of differences in the definition of crime, the nature of the proceedings, the primary focus of each approach, and divergent roles afforded to victims (Bazemore, 2000;Bonta et al, 1998;Cormier, 2002;Kurki, 1999;Pranis, 1998;Smith, 2001;Zehr & Mika, 1997).…”

Sexual Violence and Substantive Equality: Can Restorative Justice Deliver?

“…Early theorists tended to talk about restorative justice as a different or new lens through which to view justice (Zehr 1995), or as a third way to do justice (Bazemore 1998). This invoked a perception of restorative justice as an alternative to the more conventional models of criminal justice based on rehabilitation or retribution.…”