ipl-logo

Criticism Of Restorative Justice

1160 Words5 Pages

4 Criticism and Challenges

The first point of criticism against victim participation in restorative justice processes arises from scepticism about an apology to the victim as a way of dealing with criminal matters. The perception sometimes exists as to it simply being a way to get away with the crime.106 Members of the public should thus be educated to understand that restorative justice is more than a mere saying sorry, but in the context of victim offender mediation or family group conferences it rather affords the victim the opportunity to confront the child offender with the real and human cost of his or her criminal actions. Another concern deals with the possible secondary victimisation of the victim in the case where the offender pretends …show more content…

The intimate (and often violent) nature of these offences influences the willingness of victims to participate. Victims might further be in the offender’s peer group, attending the same school or even be friends. Lack of insight and the offender’s attitude would make victim-offender mediation undesirable.[94] The younger the child victim, the more unlikely any informal interaction with the offender will be. As highlighted earlier,[95]when sufficient time passes, such an encounter might become a reality, particularly where the parties belong to the same familial structure.[96]Skelton[97] points out that many sexual offences committed by child offenders are not of a violent nature: “Children sometimes have wrong perceptions about sex and act inappropriately, and in those situations restorative justice can work.”

Inadequately trained facilitators/probation officers may cause victim offender mediation or a family-group conference to fail. Poor facilitation may thus lead to parties abusing each other. In addition, grossly disproportionate conditions may be set and even recommended to the court.[98][99] Davies et al116 highlights another valid concern, namely that role-players working with the child offender[100] may find it difficult to accept their role in relation to the victim as …show more content…

It is not surprising that the main focus of the CJA is on child offenders, as the legislation is primarily designed for them. As elsewhere, the outcome in child justice matters in South Africa is not contingent on securing the engagement or agreement of victims.[107] Victims are, however, expected to play a role in the process of reforming and reintegrating child offenders into society. Though the main objective in the CJA is the management of children at risk, victims are given opportunities to participate and by doing that they may simultaneously benefit in some way or another. For those who thus choose to participate in encounters with offenders or give impact statements during sentencing, there will more often than not be some therapeutic dimension in the

Show More
Related
849 Words | 4 Pages

This type of justice system is designed very differently when compared with the retributive justice system. The restorative justice system endeavours to bring the victim and the offender together and allow them to speak with each other in the hopes to support the healing process. It will enable the victims to express themselves to the offender and lets the offender apologize and express their feelings to the victim. The restorative justice system often offers the victims of crime closure. The system encourages both parties to reveal themselves to each other and develop a solution for the future to satisfy both parties involved.

Read More
1292 Words | 6 Pages

This can be seen in the growing number of court-involved status offenders who were being detained and placed outside of their homes for noncriminal behavior (Shubik & Kendall, 2007). Following multiple studies and research, the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recommended that the juvenile court be the agency of last resort and that community-based organizations, not penal institutions, should be responsible for these youths (Shubik & Kendall, 2007; Farrington,

Read More
673 Words | 3 Pages

Victim witness programs are used by the government in order to provide support and assistance to those who fall victim to a crime. According to Victim Witness Program, the primary goals of such programs, include but are not limited to, encouraging victims to participate in any parole and supervised release processes of their offender, notify and facilitate victims in participation of any hearing or release dates in regards to their offender, provide options for supportive services, and advocate for crime victims (2015, para.1). The organization under which the victim-witness program is located is under a system, which has many internal constituencies, thus creating competing and conflicting purposes. The goals of the victim-witness program are quite simple and seek out to give the victim the right to be represented during the processing of the offender, however, given the multiple roles the court, for example, must serve, the goals of the victim-witness program can be both complex and conflicting.

Read More
1932 Words | 8 Pages

This can also cause victims to become hesitant to participate in the restorative justice conferencing process. If conferencing were to be mandatory for youth offenders, then not only will there be an increase in the number of conferences, but also a possible increase in these negative impacts on the victims. However, as there are already options and procedures in place for victim participation, it can be

Read More
1911 Words | 8 Pages

When sexual abuse occurs children often act or behave in ways that are counterintuitive to what society believes they should behave. In 1983, Dr. Roland Summit developed the Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome model to help others understand the many ways in which children react to sexual abuse. The model is broken down into 5 stages, the first two Secrecy and Helplessness are the preconditions to the occurrence of sexual abuse and the remaining three Entrapment and Accommodation, Delayed, Conflicted, and Unconvincing Disclosure, and the finally Retraction, are sequential contingencies which take on increasing variability and complexity (Summit, 1983). Children are more than often sexually abused by someone they know and trust.

Read More
425 Words | 2 Pages

I selected two cases this week to help debate the use of rehabilitation. Several case studies have shown that young homicide offenders tend to come from broken homes and violent families, have experienced parental alcoholism and child abuse, have low school achievement, and have run away from home or troubles in school. I believe cases that involve children or history of abuse may under proper screening and analysis be amenable by rehabilitation. Alex and Derek King and Lyle and Erik Menendez:

Read More
680 Words | 3 Pages

According to Tullis (2013) in the article forgiven the “concept called “restorative justice” considers harm done and strives for agreement from all concerned- the victims, the offender and the community- on making amends” (Tullis, 2013). The restorative theory helps victims and other recover from the crime.

Read More
1307 Words | 6 Pages

For over a century, states have recognized adults and children, whom have committed crimes, separate from each other. Children are referred to as their own “class” that are less blameworthy and have a greater capacity to change, contrary to adults. To acknowledge these differences, states have established a separate court system for juveniles enclosing a separate, youth-based delivery system. The idea of a separate justice system for the youth is just over a 100 years old. Early in United States history, the law was principally influenced by the common law of England.

Read More
1479 Words | 6 Pages

Today our justice system has a multitude of options when dealing with those who are convicted of offenses. However, many argue that retributive justice is the only real justice there is. This is mainly because its advantage is that it gives criminals the appropriate punishment that they deserve. The goals of this approach are clear and direct. In his book The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Zehr Howard (2002), illustrates that the central focus of retributive justice is offenders getting what they deserve (p. 30).

Read More
259 Words | 2 Pages

Restorative Justice and Offender Punishment An offender punishment used in the criminal justice system that incorporates restorative justice is restitution; at sentencing the judge orders the offender to reimburse the victim for lost income and/or wages and any out-of-pocket losses related to the crime which may include child care, transportation, lost property, medical expenses, medication costs, therapy/counseling costs and even crime scene clean up (the National Center for Victims of Crime, 2004). A way that restitution incorporates restorative justice principles, concepts, and values is by implementing the harms and needs principle which is where rather than the state taking the place of the victim in court and the punishment

Read More
1625 Words | 7 Pages

“Child sexual abuse has been correlated with higher levels of depression, guilt, shame, self-blame, eating disorders, somatic concerns, anxiety, dissociative patterns, repression, and denial. It has been shown that survivors often take personal responsibility for the abuse.” (Browne & Finklehor, 1986 p. 66-77). Often times, children are abused by someone close to them; either someone they know, or someone they trust. Thus, when the abuse is done by a trusted adult, it may be hard for the child to view the perpetrator in a negative light, causing the victim to obtain self-blame and self-hatred.

Read More
117 Words | 1 Pages

Restorative Justice processes are likely to reduce criminals from repeating offenses, as numerous recidivism studies have demonstrated. Thus, it would be more than justified to employ restorative processes a response to crimes under

Read More
79 Words | 1 Pages

Most child sexual abuse offenders are relatives and acquaintances of victims’ families. Sexual offenders take advantage of naive children to sexually abuse them because children are not wary of their relatives or of people they know. There is also a lack of well-qualified grassroots level officers and activists to protect children and settle issues related to childhood sexual abuse. Parents who fail to teach their children to protect themselves from sexual offenders are blamed for the resulting sexual abuse.

Read More
2091 Words | 9 Pages

The shortcoming of this approach is that it is not appropriate for more serious crimes such as rape and murder, because in cases like those, most of the time there is nothing that offenders can do to restore the loss or make things right The benefit of this approach is that all parties who are involved get the chance to face each other. The victims get an opportunity to be directly involved in the process and get a chance to respond to the crime committed against them. The offender becomes aware of how their offense has impacted the victim, and this in turn allows the offender to take responsibility and to apologize or show remorse to their wrong doings. Through the process healing is promoted to all the parties involved, the offender might be required to pay for the harm caused.

Read More
862 Words | 4 Pages

7. Impact on interpersonal relationships and society Working with sex offenders not only impacts therapists personally but can also have deleterious effects on their interpersonal relationships and with society itself. Results from numerous research studies showed the nature of the work had affected therapists’intimate relationships, resulting in a decline of sexual activity (Turner, 1992; Farrenkopf, 1992). Also, more than a third expressed concern over their change in behaviour with their own children, whereby they had limited their activities outside of the home and had become over-protective. Some had even reported feeling self-conscious about their behaviour with their children, and had limited physical contact, as they were concerned

Read More

More about Criticism Of Restorative Justice

Related Topics

Open Document