Thoughts on Restorative Justice Social Sciences Essay (Essay Sample)

Thoughts on Restorative Justice
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Thoughts on Restorative Justice
There are various ways in which one can describe the concept of restorative justice in the criminal justice system. For example, one may view this concept as an approach to justice whereas other would interpret it as one of the theories of justice. Nevertheless, a critical analysis of this concept shows that it can best be described as mechanism of addressing crime, conflict, or injustice in the community. Restorative justice mainly focuses on repairing the damage caused by the action of the offender (Ward & Langlands, 2009). The concept has extensive application in the criminal justice system because it emphasizes the need to restore the dignity, equality, and respect to the victims of crime. The restorative process in the criminal justice system is useful in empowering the people who have been directly impacted by a harmful event, and this included the victims of crime, the offenders, and the whole community. The restorative justice encourages the immediate participants in a crime to engage each other with aim of addressing the issue in contention. Notably, restorative justice is crucial in restoring values in the community and promotes collaborative procedures when resolving a conflict between two or more parties (Weitekamp & Kerner, 2012). The process is a sharp contrast to the adversarial and adjudicative procedures that usually characterize the traditional processes of the criminal justice system. The basic principles underlying the restorative justice system include accountability and assuming responsibility for one’s actions. It is worth pointing out that when person who has caused harm or injury is invited to honestly admit their mistake, listen to the people who were hurt by their actions, and acknowledge taking steps to remedy the situation, significant measures are taken to restore the dignity of all the participants. Although acknowledging the harm caused is important to the victim of crime, this does not preclude the offender from accountability for their actions.