Compare and contrast the rehabilitation perspective on criminal justice to the restorative justice perspective on criminal justice. How do these two perspectives differ, and are there any points where they agree?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The rehabilitation perspective sees the justice system as a means of caring for and treating people who cannot manage themselves. It assumes that people are at the mercy of social, economic, and interpersonal conditions and interactions and argues that government programs can help reduce crime at both a societal and individual level. The restorative justice perspective may follow similar views in relation to the rehabilitation perspective but instead of fixing the individual the restorative justice perspective argues that the true purpose of the criminal justice system is to promote a peaceful and just society by resolving conflict between criminal and victim, which should take place in the community in which it originated. The goal is to enable the offender to appreciate the damage, make amends, and be reintegrated back into society. Often times this may not occur until rehabilitation has occurred. Both might be considered "soft on crime" and opposed to more "hard line" approaches to criminal justice.