Restorative Justice

Brianna Register

June 8, 2014

Restorative Justice

What is Restorative Justice? Restorative Justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused or revealed by criminal behavior. Restorative Justice is used to bring people together to agree on how to respond to crime, this action is called encounter conception of restorative justice. Restorative Justice focuses on many of things these are just a couple of things:
Harm
Individuals most affected by the crime
Responsibility of the government The reason some people behavior is criminalized is because the things that they have done might have caused harm to one or more individuals or even the community. The most important thing is the harm that the individual may have caused while committing the crime. Even though we may be upset at the person that caused harm to the community it's not good to continue to cause harm against the offender it's important that the offender repair the harm. When it comes down to the resolution everyone that was affected by the crime as far as the victim, offender, and the family members on each side and the government should be involved. The Government will be involved to maintain order in these situations the government should monitor the process of the crime that was committed. These processes are suppose to protect the rights of the victim and the offender while they determine the responsibility for making the things that was wrong right. To accomplish public safety it's a must to increase governmental order. Restorative Justice is mainly for the offense victim the main purpose is to restore the power and the peace of mind for the victim by placing their needs above the offender. These things are accomplished by the victim letting the offender know how they have been affected and by receiving an apology. The aim for the offender is to be held accountable by letting him or her apologize to the victim for their actions and by giving them a chance to make amends. Some advantages of restorative justice is that it allows fairness for both victim and the offender and it's more respectful and humane in the way it respond to crime unlike the criminal justice system. It also provides more effective outcomes like fewer crimes or revenge and repair of harm. Other benefits that restorative justice includes is the victim gets to ask questions to the offender like what happened and what's the reason for the offense. Another thing is the victim gets to be apart of the decision making process of what happens next and how to deal with the aftermath. The community also gets to be involved and be recognized as secondary victim. They have the opportunities to rebuild a sense of community. The benefit for the offender is to undergo personal transformation they get to address the underlying issues that contributed to their criminal behavior. Some disadvantages of restorative justice one of them is there is a chance of being victimized again. One disadvantage is it fails to provide protection for individual rights it also puts extravagant pressure on the victim but this really don't affect a repeat offender who is used to breaking the law. Many victims may feel that meeting the offender could be difficult or they might feel threatened and not be able to face them for a long period of time. There could be issues of personal safety for the victim in respect of some offenders. Some victims are scared because they may feel that the offender will retaliate against them or have someone else to do it for them. This could cause the victim anxiety and cause them to not want to participate in the event. There is also disadvantages for the offenders to the offenders might be coerced into guilty pleas if they discover that they probably will be treat more lightly. An offender might hold back on seeking legal advice if the restorative process is associated with guilt. Another disadvantage for the offender is the victim or someone with the victim maybe vengeful and want to retaliate against the offender these are things you have to watch out for. One more disadvantage is receiving an intrusive penalty for the crime committed that might have been imposed I do see restorative justice as a viable alternative because with this method the interactions between the victim the community and the offender makes this program very unique. Restorative Justice is considered a more positive and constructive approach to restoring things between the victim of an offense, the person who committed the offense and the community as a whole.

References http://www.johnhoward.ab.ca/pub/C26.html http://www.gspia.pitt.edu/ http://www.iirp.edu/