Background When looking at the Criminal Justice system there are so many different elements make up the system to create a whole, it is sometimes hard to grasp every element. Throughout history people and governments alike have tried to figure out cost saving yet efficient strategies to keep offenders from reoffending and out of jail. Restorative justice is one of these elements; created to focus on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large. Within the realm of restorative justice there are many different types of procedures and programs from alternate dispute resolution to veteran trauma courts and everything in-between. Not everyone will agree that these specialty courts and procedures …show more content…
Mediation is typically ordered in types of cases that there is significant emotional ties; creating a potential for hostility, loss of relationships or personal feelings getting in the way of reaching an agreement. Arbitration is the best option for cases where the parties simply cannot come to an agreement and decide to have someone else decide the outcome of the case for them, without the expense and formality of a trial. Arbitration is also useful in highly complex cases where it is necessary to have a highly trained professional come to the …show more content…
Like any other program introduced to deter crime, lower tax payer costs and reduce recidivism rates, there are mixed results. Technically, restorative justice is still in the experimental phase; whether it is going to stick around and become a norm is still unclear however, if for the time being it can help reduce costs and recidivism it’s worth the effort. Problem-Solving Courts Problem-solving courts are offense specific courts that specialize in their area; often times many different agencies get involved with the offenders to support them throughout the process. These courts began in the 1990s to better rehabilitate offenders with specific needs that could not be efficiently supported within the regular judicial system. Problem-Solving court’s main focus is to find an outcome that will best suit the needs of the offender, victim and community. Even though problem solving courts are still relatively new, they seem to have a beneficial outcome for everyone involved. There are approximately 1,272 problem-solving courts within the United States; from drug courts to veteran’s court, more judicial systems are implementing these courts within their own boundaries.
“Specialized courts differ from traditional courts in that they focus on one type of offense or offender. Usually the judge plays an intensive supervisory role. Other criminal justice components (e.g., probation) and social services agencies (e.g., drug treatment) are involved and collaborate closely in case processing.” (Office of Justice Programs [OJP], 2008). High statistical correlations between offenders may demonstrate a need or possibility of specialized courts. These courts focus on the underlying issues behind the offending and try to cure it at it’s roots (NIJ, 2008). There are a variety of specialty courts such as drug, domestic violence, and restorative justice.
Victim-offender mediation emanated from Canada, in Ontario precisely where in the early 1970s, two young offenders who committed vandalism were asked to meet the victims their crime had affected . Following the meetings, the judge decided that the two offenders should pay restitution to those victims. The justification for victim-offender mediation was therefore initially that it would benefit both the victim and the offender, it is based on the value of reconciliation that is lacking in the traditional system and it was brought by the way of probation. Mediation can be seen as a progress from the...
Restorative justice aims to bring back the sense of security by emphasizing the social relationships and providing social support and control for victims. It focuses on the healing the individuals affected by the crime, permitting all individuals involved in the justice process, and places the responsibility of establishing peace on the government. Three criticisms of restorative justice are the assumptions that agreements those involved are secured when they are sometimes not achieved, it avoids implementing traditional ways of the criminal justice system, and the government holding the accountability. I believe that the blame should not held accountable for the actions of individuals. The government’s job is to enforce the law; however, since
RESTORITIVE JUSTICE FOR YOUTH OFFENDERS SHOULD BE INCREASED-Draft Good morning all and welcome, today the area of the law we will be focusing on is that restorative justice for youth offenders and why restorative justice for youth offenders should be increased. Restorative justice is a philosophy in the legal world that adds value and direction into the juvenile sentence this legal concept is defined in YOUTH JUSTICE ACT 1992. Youth offenders vary from the ages 0-17 years old, but in order to be criminally charged with an offense you must be over the age of 10. Although restorative justice is congressional some people argue otherwise and say restorative justice should be reduce or matter in fact ended. Increasing the restorative justice for youth offenders will be more beneficial to theam as they will learn where they went wrong, as they will have to find a way in order to repay the victim.
A problem is defined as recurring incidents that are similar in nature, cause harm or have the potential to cause harm, and that the public expects the police to fix. (The International Association of Crime Analysts [IACA]) Problem solving consists of a planning process which involves brainstorming and coming up with alternative ways to correct an undesirable situation. There are many processes, approaches, procedures, methods, tactics, strategies, policies, and technologies involved in problem solving. Problem solving can be used to evaluate crime and other problems, look into what the underlying causes may be, develop and implement solutions to the problems, and analyze the effectiveness of the solutions on the problems. (Ortmeier, P.J. & Meese III, E., 2010) Problem solving is used in many settings, with community oriented problem solving at the forefront. Communities join efforts with the local police agencies and work towards a solution to the problem or problems that their community is facing. (Glensor, & Peak, 1998)
...restorative justice erodes legal rights; restorative justice results in net-widening; restorative justice trivializes crime (particularly men's violence against women); restorative justice fails to "restore" victims and offenders; restorative justice fails to effect real change and to prevent recidivism; restorative justice results in discriminatory outcomes; restorative justice extends police powers; restorative justice leaves power imbalances untouched; restorative justice leads to vigilantism; restorative justice lacks legitimacy; and restorative justice fails to provide "justice".[72]
According to Champion the 3 factors that indicate changing criminal justice policy toward punishing offenders are: (1) decrease in crime, (2) changing public attitudes, and (3) fiscal pressures (2007). Due to these changes restorative or reparative justice has become more popular, particularly in case of property crimes. Restorative justice can be defined as, “A philosophical framework and a series of programs for the criminal justice system that emphasize the need to repair the harm done to crime victims through a process of negotiation, mediation, victim empowerment, and reparation (West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2008). This thread will provide a synopsis of the 3 factors mentioned and if or how this impacts the victim’s voice.
Restorative Justice is an approach that personalizes the crime by having the victims and the offenders mediate a restitution agreement to the satisfaction of one another. This method is used to contrast more punitive approaches where the aim is retributive justice. Instead of having the offenders punished restorative justice emphasizes repairing the harm caused by having the offenders redeem themselves. The process is best accomplished by having all offenders and victims cooperation. The offenders and victim seek to understand what the issue is and how it can be addressed. I believe that this process will benefit people more instead of them being punished for their crimes off back. This is a meaningful method used to help and teach people
Other who don 't agree with this method would argue that Restorative justice is out of date for this day and age. non-believers of restorative justice don 't think a victim should be chastise anymore more by having to sit and meet with the offender. Other non-supporters would also say the restitution method may be the easy way out for a criminal. I personally agree with the non-believers. I don 't think the restorative program is a viable alternative sanction to traditional punishment. I don 't believe as a victim I would want to sit in the same room and talk to someone who has caused harm to me or one of my love ones. I think having a meeting with the offender only opens up old wounds if the victim is trying to heal from the crime. The best healing for me is out of sight and out of mind. If the offender is locked away, the victim may eventually forget about the pain the offender has caused them. I also agree with this form of punishment being out of date. The young people this day and age don 't listen to anything or anyone. Sitting down in a room with a victim would not help most of these criminals, all that talking would go in one ear and out the other. I 'm pretty sure if talking would help, they wouldn 't have committed the crime in the first place. I do feel like Restorative justice is the easy way out and criminals these days would work the system to get in this program so they won 't have to face jail time. Nine times out of ten, the offender is probably not really sorry, they just want to make it thru this program so they can be out on the streets again. I really feel like this program would cause the victim more harm than healing. Everyday the victim is going to have to face this criminal and live with the fact that they let this criminal talk it out instead of doing jail time. I think talk is cheap and if you do the crime you must do the time. This is just my
Restorative justice (RJ) is a different way of looking at the criminal justice system. Instead of focusing solely on the offender, Restorative justice places the emphasis on the victim first, making sure their harms and needs are addressed, then followed by the offender, and rounding out with the community. Restorative justice has been introduced in Brazil as early as the 1990’s after it has found its way from North America through restorative justice initiatives. Brazil officially implemented restorative justice in the early 2000’s for their juvenile justice system with three pilot projects in the cities of Porto Alegre, Sao Caetano do Sol, and in Brasilia. Brazil in particular along with Latin Americas relied on the military as the aid to police when crime and violence have become rampant (Achutti & Pallamolla, 2012). Brazil has been promoting restorative justice to help bring down crimes by bringing together victims, offenders, and the community for support and not rely on extreme military and police measures to resolve the issues.
The ultimate goal of the program is to hold offenders responsible for their actions in positive ways, but most importantly repair the harm caused by the offender. Restorative justice working with victims, offenders, communities, and others who are affected by the crimes to come up with positive ways to restore lives. The restorative justice program is usually run by an outside non-profit organization and is often used in property crimes such as; shoplifting, burglary, arson larceny-theft etc... but can restorative justice possible on the federal
“Restorative justice is an approach to crime and other wrongdoings that focuses on repairing harm and encouraging responsibility and involvement of the parties impacted by the wrong.” This quote comes from a leading restorative justice scholar named Howard Zehr. The process of restorative justice necessitates a shift in responsibility for addressing crime. In a restorative justice process, the citizens who have been affected by a crime must take an active role in addressing that crime. Although law professionals may have secondary roles in facilitating the restorative justice process, it is the citizens who must take up the majority of the responsibility in healing the pains caused by crime. Restorative justice is a very broad subject and has many other topics inside of it. The main goal of the restorative justice system is to focus on the needs of the victims, the offenders, and the community, and focus
As the purpose of restorative justice is to mend the very relationship between the victim, offender, and society, communities that embrace restorative justice foster an awareness on how the act has harmed others. Braithwaite (1989) notes that by rejecting only the criminal act and not the offender, restorative justice allows for a closer empathetic relationship between the offender, victims, and community. By acknowledging the intrinsic worth of the offender and their ability to contribute back to the community, restorative justice shows how all individuals are capable of being useful despite criminal acts previous. This encourages offenders to safely reintegrate into society, as they are encouraged to rejoin and find rapport with the community through their emotions and
The first is victim offender mediation. This is a process that provides a victim the opportunity to meet their offender in a safe setting and talk about the crime. The goals of this type of restorative justice include “permitting victims to meet their offenders on a voluntary basis, encouraging the offender to learn about the crime's impact and to take responsibility for the resulting harm, and providing victim and offender the opportunity to develop a plan that addresses the harm.” There are more than 300 victim offender mediation programs in North America, and over 500 in Europe. Research on such programs has found higher satisfaction among victims and offenders who participated in mediation, lower fear among victims, a greater likelihood that the offender will complete a restitution obligation, and fewer offenders committing new offences, than among those who went through the normal court
An importance aspect of restorative justice, is the relationship the offender builds with the victim as well as the community. By not feeling ostracized within the community coupled with the fact that this process is voluntary, the offender is much more likely to not revert back to their old ways. And at the same time the community learns what to do differently in order to ensure that they don’t play a part in those actions happening