18. Restorative, Transformative Justice
Summary and Review
Dr. Alana Marie Abramson and Melissa Leanne Roberts, M.A.
✅ Summary
- Restorative justice is a theory of justice and is part of the critical tradition in criminology.
- Restorative justice aims to repair relationships harmed by crime and is related to transformative justice, which highlights the essential need to change social structures that perpetuate injustice and inequality.
- Restorative justice aims to put victims’ needs at the centre of the justice process and to encourage greater community engagement through inclusive and collaborative processes.
- Different definitions of restorative justice often have a different emphasis on either encounter, reparative, or transformative dimensions.
- Restorative justice aims to meaningfully include three stakeholders in the justice process: victim, offender, and community.
- Key principles of restorative justice practices include offender accountability and voluntary victim/survivor participation and choice. Community members might also be included.
- Restorative justice models include victim-offender dialogue, conferencing, and circles.
- While restorative justice and Indigenous practices are similar, these terms are not interchangeable.
- Restorative justice has many benefits for victims/survivors, the offender and the community.
- Critiques of restorative justice include, amongst other things, the perception that it is soft on crime, the concern that it is impractical to shift an entire criminal justice system to a new paradigm, and net-widening.
🖊️ Key Terms
aggravating factors: these are factors that are considered by the sentencing judge that would increase the crime’s severity and would result in a more severe punishment. Examples of aggravating factors include previous criminal record for the same crime; use of a weapon; offence motivated by bias, prejudice or hate (based on race, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation or gender identity, or any similar factor); offence was committed against the offender’s intimate partner or family; the offence was committed against a person under the age of eighteen; offence was committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organisation; the offence was a terrorism offence; or the offence had significant impact on the victim’s health and financial situation.
circles: a process often associated with restorative justice although the roots of this ancient practice lie in many Indigenous traditions around the world. The circle embodies and nurtures the state of inter-connectedness we exist in as human beings. The circle is a structured process that can be adapted for many different purposes such as relationship and community building, sharing, problem solving and decision making, celebration, or as a response to harm. The circle allows all participants the opportunity to speak about values or a specific topic. Circles create a space for deep listening and to be heard. All voices are honoured equally which can cultivate mutual support and learning.
conferencing: a process based on restorative principles whereby the people most impacted by a harm come together to dialogue about what happened, how they were impacted, and explore ways to repair the harm. These processes are facilitated by a trained facilitator and often include victims, offenders, their supporters, and representatives of the community.
critical criminology: a branch of criminological thought that examines how crime and criminal justice agencies are used as a form of social power that benefits some groups over others.
decolonisation: the process of deconstructing colonial ideologies of the superiority and privilege of Western thought and approaches embedded in Western societies such as Canada. Decolonisation can also mean cultural, psychological, and economic freedom for Indigenous peoples.
denunciation: the condemnation of an individual’s actions, specifically with regard to offending.
deterrence: the idea or theory that the threat of punishment will deter people from committing crime and that the punishment of someone else will deter them as well (general deterrence). It also can mean punishing an individual to teach them not to offend again (specific deterrence).
mitigating factors: factors that decrease the severity of an offence in the eyes of the criminal justice system
paradigm: a typical model, example, pattern, or theory of something. Restorative justice is often described as a paradigm shift (a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions).
punitive: an approach to law and criminal justice that involves the intentional infliction of punishment.
rehabilitation: in the context of the criminal justice system, this is the process of helping inmates grow and change, allowing them to separate themselves from the factors that made them offend in the first place. In addition, preparing someone for a productive/crime free life once out of incarceration.
reparation: the making of amends for a wrong one has done. This can be done by paying money to or otherwise helping (with service) those who have been wronged. In the criminal justice system, reparation is often court ordered.
restorative justice: an approach to crime that focuses on restitution rather than individual punishment. Restorative justice involves organising a meeting between the victim and offender, and often includes members of the community.
retribution: involves inflicting punishment on an offender.
retributive: an approach to law and criminal justice based on the punishment of offenders with the intention of making the offender “pay” for what they have done (an “eye for an eye”).
victim-offender dialogue: a process based on restorative justice principles where a victim and offender have direct or indirect dialogue in the aftermath of a harm. This dialogue is usually facilitated by a trained person who has worked with both parties to prepare them for the encounter.
🧠 Chapter Review
Crossword
Fill in the term in the right-hand column and it will display in the crossword puzzle. Be sure to include spaces where appropriate.
Discussion Questions
- Which conception of restorative justice do you most relate to and why? Think about a recent crime that happened to you, a friend or in your community. If you were the victim, could you imagine participating in restorative justice? If you were the offender, would you choose restorative justice if it was offered? Why or why not?
- How are the values of restorative justice present in the processes you learned about in this chapter? For example, how might “respect” be demonstrated towards offenders, victims, and communities in restorative justice practice?
- One of the barriers for Canadians to access restorative justice is a lack of information about these approaches. How might Canadians and criminal justice professionals (police, judges, victim services, correctional services) become more aware of restorative justice? Who should be responsible for educating Canadians about restorative justice?
- What are the main differences and similarities between retributive, rehabilitative, restorative and transformative justice approaches?
- Many restorative principles originate in the traditional practices of Indigenous cultures and other cultures. How would we respectfully approach the inclusion of these practices into restorative justice with an aim to mitigate cultural appropriation and disrespectful distortions that perpetuate the exploitation and oppression of marginalised peoples?
