NCJ Number
179192
Journal
Dalhousie Review Volume: 76 Issue: 1 Dated: Spring 1996 Pages: 9-31
Date Published
1996
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This paper presents the basic elements of the restorative justice paradigm, its use in the community life of indigenous cultures, and the value of combining some of the elements of the criminal justice procedures of liberal democracies with the principles of restorative justice.
Abstract
Restorative justice means restoring victims, a more victim-centered criminal justice system, the restoring of offenders, and the restoring of the community. Restoring victims means restoring the property or the physical and emotional health, as well as restoring to the victim a sense of security and dignity. It is important to restore any lost sense of empowerment a victim suffers from the crime. This can be done by involving victims in the deliberative control of administering justice in their cases. Further, restorative justice aims to restore harmony based on a feeling that justice has been done and restore social support. In most cases, a more limited range of types of restoration is relevant to offenders. Offender restoration can include the restoration of dignity, a sense of security and empowerment, and the provision of social support. Restoring community is advanced by a proliferation of restorative justice rituals in which social support around specific victims and offenders is restored. Restorative justice must be a culturally diverse social movement that accommodates a rich plurality of strategies in pursuit of the truths it holds to be universal. Scientific criminology will never discover any universally best way of doing restorative justice. The best path is that of cultural plurality in pursuit of culturally shared restorative values. 60 footnotes