NCJ Number
235581
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 35 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2011 Pages: 1-18
Date Published
February 2011
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article reviews restorative justice in South Africa.
Abstract
To date, a key emphasis within the restorative justice movement has been on the ways in which its values can guide the system of "criminal justice." In this paper the authors argue that this focus has limited the ability to recognize various ways in which such values are being promoted within forms of governance originating outside of state justice systems. Through an examination of one localized governance model in South Africa, the authors seek to demonstrate that restorative values are being promoted through distinct goals and mechanisms developed to suit micropolitical, cultural, and economic realities. The authors suggest that the need to discover, explain, and assess such mechanisms is important to the advancement of the security governance literature, especially in a manner that is both intellectually and practically relevant to societies with deficits in state governance. The authors' empirical focus is on Peace Committees in South African communities that are operating, to use Braithwaite's terms, as forms of "responsive nodal governance". The author's depiction of these Committees raises both explanatory and normative questions that warrant further empirical study. (Published Abstract)