Criminal Law 3: Restorative Justice, Labeling Theory, and Recidivism

This essay analyzes restorative justice within the context of the criminal justice system in the United States, particularly focusing on its relationship with labeling theory and re-integrative shaming as strategies to reduce recidivism rates. The essay defines restorative justice as a comprehensive framework that reconsiders the relationship between the community and the government, emphasizing repairing harm caused by crime. It contrasts restorative justice with the traditional model, highlighting the former's focus on the violation of relationships. The essay also explains re-integrative shaming and labeling theory. The application of restorative justice in juvenile justice and schools is discussed, including its use in keeping youths out of the 'school-to-prison pipeline'. While acknowledging criticisms, the essay concludes that restorative justice is an effective process for lowering recidivism rates and should be utilized.

Running head: CRIMINAL LAW
CRIMINAL LAW
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Introduction
In the criminal justice system in United States of America, the ‘get tough’ policy
practiced through the years has resulted in higher rates of recidivism. In this essay a brief
analysis of restorative justice, that is practiced for lowering the recidivism rate, has been done in
relation to labeling theory and re-integrative shaming (Johnstone & Van Ness, 2013).
Restorative Justice
The restorative justice movement can be seen to be built upon a conceptual framework of justice
that is comprehensive, that specifies the respective roles of the community members and the
justice professionals by way of fostering of rethinking the relationship between the community
and the government (Van Ness & Strong, 2014). In the restorative justice framework crime and
wrongful occurrences are viewed under different lens. In comparison to traditional justice model,
which can be seen to be of the view that any crime is a violation of the state, restorative justice is
seen to be of the opinion that crime is a violation of the relation between two parties. The main
goal of the restorative justice can be described as to be repairing the harm that has been caused
because of the crime.
Re-integrative shaming can be defined as shaming that has been imposed by the criminal
justice system as a sanction, with a hope of it to be strengthening the moral bond present between
an offender and the community (Mongold & Edwards, 2014). Re-integrative shaming is viewed
as a positive power of the relationship between individuals for dealing with various offences and
similar behaviors jeopardizing the harmonious community living.

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Labeling theory is seen to be the explanation for how the behavior and self-identity of
people might be used to determine or influence how they have been classified them (Hagan &
Daigle, 2018).
The practice of restorative justice has been on the rise across USA in the courts and
schools as well for quite sometimes. The restorative justice in USA in current times is mostly
used in context of the juvenile justice system and the youth offenders because of the high rates of
recidivism that can be found in the juvenile justice system. The restorative justice process can be
seen to be used by many schools for keeping the youths out of the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’
(Payne & Welch, 2015). Instead of sending the students directly in the juvenile justice system,
many schools in USA are seen to be expanding the restorative justice programs. Despite of being
successful at lowering the rates of recidivism, the restorative justice is not without critics. It had
been criticized by many that the restorative justice is powerless to be truly changing criminal
justice system from within (Johnstone, 2013).
Conclusion
In the essay restorative justice has been discussed in context to re-integrative shaming
and the labeling theory. The practice of restorative justice has been seen to be on rise in the
youth courts and schools across USA. The restorative justice process is used by many schools for
keeping the youths out of the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’. It can be concluded from the above
discussion that despite of the fact that there are criticisms of the process the restorative justice is
a process that is effective for lowering the recidivism rate and hence should be used.

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Reference
Hagan, F. E., & Daigle, L. E. (2018). Introduction to criminology: Theories, methods, and
criminal behavior. Sage Publications.
Johnstone, G. (2013). Restorative justice: Ideas, values, debates. Routledge.
Johnstone, G., & Van Ness, D. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of restorative justice. Routledge.
Mongold, J. L., & Edwards, B. D. (2014). Reintegrative shaming: Theory into practice. Journal
of Theoretical & Philosophical Criminology, 6(3), 205.
Payne, A. A., & Welch, K. (2015). Restorative justice in schools: The influence of race on
restorative discipline. Youth & Society, 47(4), 539-564.
Van Ness, D. W., & Strong, K. H. (2014). Restoring justice: An introduction to restorative
justice. Routledge.