NCJ Number
190446
Date Published
2001
Length
263 pages
Annotation
This book discusses all of the basic issues of restorative justice, with attention not only to the processes of healing but also to the transformation of the social institutions of the family, the school, the workplace, and the neighborhood, which make health and healing a possibility before and after some harm has been done by a crime.
Abstract
The first chapter traces the history of the emergence of the concepts of restorative justice and the mechanisms of implementation. The second chapter reviews the core components of restorative justice. As the term "restorative" implies, restorative justice is concerned with restoring victims and the community to a healthy state following the harm done by a crime. In addition, it aims to transform offenders into positive community residents by implementing measures of accountability and rehabilitation rather than punishment for its own sake. The third chapter details various programs that reflect the core components of restorative justice. These include Navajo "peacemaking," which is a formal communal response to help address harms done to community members through crime; family group conferencing, which enlists the family as a positive force in helping settle disputes and in responding to social situations when someone is harmed; community sentencing circles, in which victims and other stakeholders in the harm done determine what should be done to bring healing to victims, the offender, and the community; and victim-offender reconciliation programs. Remaining chapters consider reintegration into a community with services that provide healing for the offender; needs-based justice as restorative; the violence of power; a radical perspective on crime and social harm; the personal foundations of restorative justice; and restorative justice as a transformative process for all the individuals, communities, and institutions that impact human development. 410 references