Restorative Justice Is Republican Justice (From Restorative Juvenile Justice: Repairing the Harm of Youth Crime, P 103-126, 1999, Gordon Bazemore and Lode Walgrave, eds. -- See NCJ-181924)

• NCJ Number: 181928
• Author(s): John Braithwaite; Christine Parker
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: Criminal Justice Press/Willow Tree Press
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper argues that restorative justice set in a context of a republican politics of non-domination can offer hope for a more decent future of juvenile justice.

Abstract

Republican theory motivates a commitment to using restorative justice; family group conferences are one instance of this idea. However, a restorative justice that is too individualistic and insufficiently aware of the community context of power and inequality in which it occurs can accomplish too little justice with too little equity. Three strategies to address these dangers through the republican politics of non-domination are: (1) contestability under the rule of law, (2) making restorative justice less individualized by preferring community conferences over mediation between individuals, and (3) the use of vibrant social movement politics that connect private troubles to public issues. Strategic steps to make restorative justice satisfy these republican principles might include engaging restorative judges with the challenge of intervening to check abuses of power by developing case law on restorative justice, conducting empirical research, and evaluating innovations. Figures, case examples, notes, and 58 references