Say yes to restorative justice

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Recommended: Four theories of restorative justice

Carruthers argues that restorative justice is often an alternative to the traditional form of justice (p. 12). While it is not possible for this system of justice to replace the traditional system, it has ensured balance between the person who has been harmed, the one causing the harm as well as the community which has been affected, instead of concentrating on crime based on law. This of justice has been practiced by several cultures at some point, not forgetting the Jewish culture in the Bible.
It was not until 1974 when this practice came into use in Ontario, Canada, and it was concerned with practices related to “restitution, reconciliation as well as forgiveness” (Tomporowski, p. 815). After it was put to use in the country, many countries have followed suit in implementation of this practice which ensures that offenders are responsible for their own actions (crime). Despite that, has this system been able to work? Restorative justice has proven to bring success in several ways.
Due to the fact that restorative justice is concerned mainly on the perpetrators of the crime, one of the major importance of restorative justice has been the “victim’s mindset” (Carruthers, p. 21). This is not just like the conventional system of justice where both the criminal and the victim are sentenced; however, this form of justice system gives the offender as well as the victim the chance to make up things between themselves through the help of friends and family. Through this process, the victims influence the offender’s punishment.
Because of this, high numbers of offenders often apologize for the crimes they commit as well as less victims are able to “hurt their offenders”. Nevertheless, the victims do not have much fear that the of...

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...orative justice has had a good spell in influencing positively the crime level and has been doing well even in high crime such as rape and murder.

Works Cited

Carruthers, David. "Restorative Justice: Lessons From The Past, Pointers For The Future." Waikato Law Review: Taumauri 20.(2012): [1]-29. Informit Humanities & Social Sciences Collection. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Dancig-Rosenberg, Hadar. "Restorative Criminal Justice." Cardozo Law Review 34.(2013): 2313. LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Hayes, Hennessey, et al. "Agreements In Restorative Justice Conferences." British Journal Of Criminology 54.1 (2014): 109-127. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Tomporowski, Barbara. "Reflections on The Past, Present, And Future Of Restorative Justice In Canada." Alberta Law Review 48.(2011): 815. LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.

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