Discuss restorative justice and the premise that it is based on. How do people feel about achieving justice through a restorative process?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers may vary.In recent decades, an approach has emerged that attempts to address the damage caused by criminal offenses and encourage offenders to take responsibility. This approach, restorative justice, views crime as a violation of the victim and the community, rather than the state. It uses open dialogue to gain consensus about responsibility-taking and dispute resolution. The goals of restorative justice are to repair the harm and restore the losses caused by offensive activity, reintegrate offenders into society, and empower victims and the community to move from feelings of vulnerability and loss to a sense of understanding and closure.Restorative justice is based on the premise that those who are most affected by crime-victims and offenders-should have a prominent role in resolving the conflict and that the community has a stake in its outcome too. Thus, it expands the circle of participants beyond the offender and the state and encourages participants to use some combination of apology, remorse, and forgiveness to move beyond the harms caused by crime.Restorative justice policies are used throughout the world. The Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in South Africa and Rwanda were based on these principles, and the entire youth justice system in New Zealand uses a restorative justice model. These practices are becoming more common in the criminal, civil, and juvenile justice systems in the United States, as well. Many jails and prisons now offer victim impact intervention training in which inmates interact with victims in order to understand how victimization has affected them.How do people feel about achieving justice through a restorative process? Given the public's strong desire to punish offenders, is there support for procedures that focus on other justice goals? People apparently do value its role in repairing harm done to victims and communities. In fact, for less serious crimes, people prefer to respond with restorative measures, and for more serious offenses, people prefer responses that combine restorative procedures and punitive sanctions (i.e., prison sentences), rather than either of these options alone. Victim satisfaction seems to drive these reactions: When observers believe that victims have achieved satisfaction and closure via a restorative justice process, they are less likely to endorse additional retributive sanctions such as prison sentences for offenders. Given the public's preference for both retribution and restoration, it is worthwhile examining how judges assign criminal punishments, to what extent their choices mirror public sentiment, and how psychological factors influence their decisions.