Restorative Justice: Effectiveness and Impact
Added on 2020-05-04
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Running head: CRIME AND JUSTICECrime and JusticeName of the StudentName of the UniversityAuthor Note
1CRIME AND JUSTICEEssay Plan Topic:Evaluate the claim that restorative justice practices are beneficial for victims of crime andoffendersThe concept of restorative justice is considered as an innovative approach to criminaljustice. It is an alternative to the traditional criminal process followed in courts as restorativejustice generally include meeting of the offenders and the victims and their respective families.The participants come to an agreement for the accused with a view to repair the damage hecaused to the victim. In the event a party declines to attend such face-to-face meetings, there arescopes to bring out the restorative outcome of repairing the harm caused to the victim by theoffender. In other words, restorative justice emphasizes on refurbishing the harm caused by theoffender to the victim. It can be achieved through cooperative processes that include all theactors in the criminal justice system.Restorative justice is beneficial for all the fundamental actors within the criminal justicesystem. Firstly, it provides the offender with an opportunity to accept his/her responsibility forthe harm he/she caused to the victim, thus, rehabilitating. Secondly, it is advantageous for thestate as well by diverting cases away from the criminal justice system that is already over-burdened with cases. Lastly, it gives a chance to the victims to play a significant role in dealingwith the crime that has been against him/her by the accused/offender. It is always beneficial forthe victims, offenders and the affected members of the society to be involved in responding tothe crime, as they are vital to the criminal justice process. This restorative process of includingall the parties to the criminal justice system through face-to-face meetings is an influential way
2CRIME AND JUSTICEto address not only the physical injuries but also the psychological, relational and social injuriesas well. The essential concepts included in the restorative justice are to understand the needs ofthe offenders and victims and to ensure that justice is administered to all the actors in thecriminal justice system. Restorative justice is a an alternative approach to the traditional court’sprocess. This approach aims at repairing the damage caused by the accused or the offender whichlacks in the traditional criminal justice system. The essay shall discuss how restorative justice, inall its sense, is a commendable effort to humanize the justice system. The essay shall include an introduction, body and conclusion where the introduction partshall entail brief concept of the topic restorative justice and its essential elements. In the body ofthe essay, the essential elements shall be discussed elaborately. Further, it shall include theimpact of restorative justice and shall provide examples to establish the claim that it is beneficialfor both offenders and victims. The conclusion shall include summary of the points discussed inthe entire essay to establish that restorative justice is a beneficial to the victims, offenders and theaffected members of the community. ESSAYThe notion of restorative justice is a new movement in the world of criminology andvictimology. Given the fact that crimes causes injuries to communities and people, restorativejustice repair such injuries and allows the parties to such crime to take part in that process. Therestorative justice programs permit the offenders, victims and the other affected members to playa significant role in responding to the crimes (Bouffard et al. 2017). These actors become vital tothe criminal justice process with the support from the legal professionals and the government.
3CRIME AND JUSTICEThey act as facilitators to such system that aims at ensuring the accountability of the offender,reparation of the victims and complete participation of the affected members of the community.This process involves face-to-face meeting that are held between the offenders, victims and theaffected community members where the offender admits his/her offence and takes fullresponsibility for the injuries caused to victims and the affected community members. The essaywill further discuss about the essential elements involved in the restorative justice process that it,the victims, offenders and the affected community members. It shall further critically analyze theintended benefits of restorative justice for victims. In conclusion, a brief summary shall beprovided establishing that restorative justice is a viable alternative under certain circumstances tothe traditional criminal justice system. The emergence of the notion of restorative justice had taken place due to two broad andessential trends (Larsen 2014). The first trend is the overall inclination towards an alternativedispute resolution method, which shall be cheaper, more hospitable than an expensive, tome-consuming and psychologically strenuous difficult system that is based on formal adjudicationand litigation. The second trends includes the persisting dissatisfaction with the traditionalcriminal justice system that is not only burdensome and costly but also fails to deter crime,rehabilitate offenders, and promote effective and just punishment to administer justice to theaffected victims. Restorative justice satisfies both the aspects of politics- conservatives and the liberalaspect. From the conservative aspect, it focuses on the accountability of the offenders, savinggovernmental expenses and empowerment of the victims. From the liberal aspect, it focuses onthe welfare of all the parties and the likelihood for creating and healing the peace. Thisestablishes the reason why several victimologists, criminologists have accepted restorative
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