Restorative Justice: Rehabilitation, Reconciliation, and the Affected Parties - Essay Sample

Introduction

Restorative justice is a system of criminal justice that focuses on ensuring that an offender is rehabilitated through reconciliation with the members of the community and the victims of the crime they committed (Braithwaite, 2016). The system acknowledges that certain people and the community at large have been affected or hurt by the crime committed. As such, it is imperative that the hurt caused be rectified by the justice system and the affected parties be part of the process. The justice program enables the offender, victim and affected members of the society to work together in the response to crime. Application of restorative justice for juvenile cases has been an ongoing process that has been implemented and tested over the last decades. The results have been significantly positive proving that the use of restorative justice has been effective in the reducing delinquencies. Restorative justice uses a unique policy framework that aims at controlling adolescent behavioral problems and youth crimes. The program allows the offender to be held accountable for his or her actions, giving the victims a sense of justice served, it gives the offender a chance to apologize for his actions, and community service as a way of restitution. This paper looks at how restorative justice can help reduce crime rates.

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Restorative Justice as a Learning Process

At a tender age, parents start the reparation training for their children. When a child makes a mistake, like say attack another child, his or her parents will scold them and then ask them to apologize for their mistake. The child will understand that whatever they have done is wrong and they should not repeat it. Restorative justice works in the same way for juvenile offenders. The justice program does not view delinquency as a sin but rather as an offences against set norms but rather a social harm that results from conflict between different players in the society. Reparation, in the case of restorative justice, allows the justice system to find a solution to the crime committed by fostering environment of understanding and forgiveness unlike conventional justice that is more concern with inflicting punishment that equals the crime committed. Reparation which is at the core of restorative justice is a popular concept with children in cultures around the world. For centuries it has been applied in home setups to teach wrong from right and to enforce discipline and foster a peaceful environment.

Bouffard, Cooper and Bergseth (2017) in their research on the effectiveness of various restorative justice interventions among juvenile offenders illuminate the positive impacts of the program. The study explored a variety of Restorative Justice Programs for juvenile offenders including indirect forms of victim-offender mediation, direct mediation, and use of community panels. The results of the research showed that the use of restorative justice among young offenders was effective. The research expresses the need for condemning the act rather than the doer, an initiative that restorative justice pushes. Stigmatization of the criminal act committed by the young offenders allows him to ease into the process of rehabilitation after mediation with the victims and the community. The research compared 352 cases referred to the justice program and compared to 351 cases referred to traditional courts. The results were put through analytical tools that proved that the RJ programs were more effective and posed less risk when it came to recidivism. Young offenders without prior history were rehabilitated successfully and the number of repeat offences significantly reduced.

Hayes, (2017) explores the different methods used in New Zealand and Australia to develop response and prevention strategies of crimes among young offenders. The study provides a different perspective as it explores the restorative justice in terms of language capabilities and knowledge. The restorative justice systems in the two countries do not place emphasis on the emotional and language development of the youth and thus, its requirements and expectations become unrealistic. The success of restorative justice in his opinion is in understanding the abilities of the young offenders in order to ensure they understand how the process works. The study does not dismiss the admissibility and effectiveness of the restorative justice process, but rather provides more information on how to make the process more effective. The article claims that for the success of the restorative process, both the victim and the offender must be able to communicate effectively to understand the process. Restorative justice is a learning process and learning requires that an offender understands his emotions and has the necessary skills to communicate their feelings of either guilt, remorse or apology to complete the restorative process.

Winter, (2009) expresses the challenges and rewards of restorative justice. The article expresses the difference between children and adults and how the understanding of this highlights the need for restorative justice in child cases more than adult. Winter (2009) further compares the role that the society plays in the effectiveness of the justice system used. A child who has been taught by being shown and made to understand reasons will better respond to a restorative justice than conventional forms of justice that involve punishment. Teaching young offenders about the effect of their crime and allowing them to emotionally respond to the consequences will lower the risk of them repeating the crime and will help them fit back into the society. However it is also important to consider the needs and capabilities of the child before adopting the system. Hunter (2009) further argues that restorative justice should consider the type pf crime committed by the young offender. In some cases the use of restorative justice might cause more harm than good to the offender. The victims might also opt not to participate in the process which would weaken its effectiveness.

Restorative Justice in Reducing Juvenile Recidivism

Crime is a wrongdoing aimed against people and relationships. Restorative justice takes this into account and considers all the affected stakeholders to ensure things are made right. The process has been effective since its primary objective is the healing process of the offender, victim and community instead of punishment towards the offender only. The juvenile system is able to benefit more from this justice system since it reducing the number of future offenders and significantly cuts down on the justice system's costs. Offenders who have undergone the restorative justice systems are more open to complying with restitution, and thus, promptly go through the rehabilitation programs provided. They are able to go back to being normal part of the society and start their lives over on a clean slate. The possibility of them committing another crime becomes slimmer. As compared to traditional justice systems, first-term offenders have a lower chance of reoffending when placed in the restorative justice program. Implementation of restorative justice system in more states to deal with juvenile delinquency will significantly reduce the number of recidivism.

Restorative justice as compared to traditional juvenile court proceedings is more effective in reducing juvenile recidivism . The research focused on a rural area in upper Midwest showed explored interventions such as face-to-face mediation, direct communication between offenders and victims, indirect communication between offenders and victims and community panels (Bouffard, 2016). The results of the study that was carried out based on 550 youth between the year 2000-2005, compared the number of reoffenders based on the justice intervention they were subjected (Bouffard, 2016). The results showed that within an average of three and a half years 40% of the juveniles committed a new crime. The youth under juvenile court systems were found more susceptible to reoffending as they showed a 50% chance of recidivism as compared to the ones who went through the minimal restorative justice programs who had a 31% chance (Bouffard, 2016).. Intensive restorative justice programs reduced the chances of new offences to about 24%. Further the research concluded that the youth could first of all be screened for risk factors before deciding on the form of intervention of restorative justice to use.

Study shows that restorative justice might not work for all juvenile cases making it less effective than traditional court proceedings. It is imperative that young offenders are taught about the consequences of the crimes they have committed to avoid a repeat but at times bringing the child face to face with the victim might not be a wise decision (Braithwaite, 2016). The exposure might lead to mental health issues or the abuse of drugs due to the trauma they will undergo, therefore, increasing the risk of instability and re-offense. Restorative justice interventions might not always offer young offenders a therapeutic and progressive solution (Braithwaite, 2016). For instance, the use of restorative justice conferencing requires a young offender to plead guilty to the crime in order for the process to begin. Some of the offenders might lack basic communication skills and emotive abilities to decipher what is happening. The offenders might lack the right words or set of vocabulary to correctly express themselves in the conferences with victims. Oral language abilities are imperative for young offenders to successfully pass the restorative justice program.

The mentality that one size does not fits all especially when it comes to juvenile delinquency cases causes inefficiencies. However, instead of disregarding the position held by restorative justice on the claim that emotional instability and communication skills might barre its effectiveness is uninformed. Restorative justice has had more success than traditional court proceedings since it provides a more relatable form of rehabilitation and reparation. Young offenders should be evaluated before choosing the best form of intervention to consider. Punishment is not the ultimate solution when it comes to prevention of recidivism among juvenile offenders, instead more research should be dedicated on improving the restorative justice process to take into account language abilities and emotional levels among young offenders. Understanding the nature of the crime committed, the mental health and communication skills of the offender as well as the victim's needs will make it easier to choose the best form of restorative justice intervention successfully reducing recidivism.

Restorative Justice Allows Offenders and Victims to Reconcile

Restorative justice has the needs of both the offender and the victim at heart. It is more inclined towards reconciliation and it allows an individual to has had a crime committed against them feel like justice has been served. Conference with the victims allows the offender to tell his story directly to the victim and provide closure. The victim can get answers to questions about the crime committed against them and the child offender can also open up to embrace the healing process. The child offender will get a chance to better understand the impact of his actions and start the process of making up for the crimes he committed. The victim will feel a sense of involvement in the justice system increasing the public believe in justice for all. As a result of the contact with the offender, the victims can feel a sense of optimism and increased safety. Therefore, the recovery process will be swift as the victim will feel empowered to move on from the crime. The offender on the other hand will ge...