NCJ Number
213982
Date Published
2006
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This chapter considers the relationship between risk and restorative justice (RJ).
Abstract
In this chapter, “risk” refers to the probabilistic prediction of future harms. The author suggests that risk can be utilized in far better ways than it is used within the actuarial justice system that categorizes offenders as either high-risk and in need of incapacitation or as low-risk and in need of community inclusion programming. It is too often assumed that risk and RJ are incompatible, particularly in light of RJ’s ambivalent orientation, its optimistic view of the future, and the key role it allows to lay persons. The author argues, instead that risk can take many forms, actuarial justice being just one of them. To illustrate the various ways of applying risk, the drug harm minimization programs in Australia are described, with an emphasis on their RJ likenesses, such as the fact that they are harm focused and oriented to the future. The discussion leads to the possibility that risk and RJ practices have the ability to blend together into a reintegrative and empowering hybrid of justice. The programmatic parallels between harm minimization programs based on risk and RJ practices are examined, including their strong commitment to socially inclusive solutions, their focus on harm rather than rules, the accountability of the offender, and their future orientations. The two major differences between harm minimization and RJ are also considered: harm minimization does not focus on the victim and is dominated by expert knowledge. In closing, the author notes that once the many forms of risk are recognized, it will become evident that risk incorporates only a small component of any criminal justice technique, program, or policy and can certainly fit within a RJ model. Notes, references