Restorative Justice Process

Rooted in our civilization, restorative justice was once viewed as a sin against a sovereign society of a King, Queen, or Emperor. Albert Eglash (1975) first articulated restorative justice over retributive and rehabilitative justice, an indeed search for the original status of security of the victim’s feelings. Restorative Justice, a more victim-centered aspect of punishment than the offender, however, the victim should consider, what it is that restorative justice will restore to its original state of security, and would it be enough justice that the victim seeks.

Restorative justice is defined as “using humanistic, no punitive strategies to right wrongs and restore social harmony” (Siegel, 2008, p. 189). Instead of imposing harsh penalties on offenders like long prison sentences or even the death penalty, restorative justice calls for a more rehabilitative approach, such as reconciliation and offender assistance.

Its most commonly known definition was provided by Marshall in 1996, that describes restorative justice as a process where both parties; victims and offenders, work together to restore, resolve and deal with the after effects of the offence and future ramifications (as cited in Van Camp & Wemmers, 2013). The concept of restorative justice originally derived from various indigenous and pre-industrial western justice practices, however, in the 1970's it begun to appear in modern times and was then developed as a reference to describe victim-offender programs that were developed in North America (Strang, 2001). Restorative Justice approaches spread across the world in the 1990's, where many countries such as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, began introducing these approaches as alternatives in their criminal justice systems (Braithwaite, 1999). The concept of restorative justice usually involves victim and offender direct participation and is conducted in the form of conferences or mediation. This is where both parties; the victims and offenders, come together fact-to-face in one location, alongside a facilitator, police and support people, and work out together the consequences of the offenders actions and the

Julie Hilt is the executive director of the Solano County Bar Association. Julie realized that Solano County didn’t have a restorative justice program. Julie realizes this program is new to Solano County and hope the program is supported in the community. Julie states the purpose of the restorative justice program in Solano County focus is to restore the community and promote healing after a crime; the process has additional benefits, such as increased restitution for victims, greater satisfaction with the system and potentially lower recidivism. Julie believes the restorative justice program is designed to teach the offender to be accountable for their wrong doings. Julie says the practices of the program are allowing the victim(s) who is willing the opportunity to come forward and participate in a face to face meeting with offenders.

What is restorative justice? Restorative justice is when youths that were affected by an incident choose to repair the damage that they committed, restore trust, and find a place in the community in which they can fit into society. Not only that, but one of their main focus is to build respectful relationships that can be noticed by everyone (Murthy, 2016, para. 2). The restorative justice approach shares three goals. These three goals are known as accountability, competency, and public safety. Accountability is responsible for making amends and reestablishes the losses to victims and communities. The purpose of accountability is not to obey a curfew, attending counseling, having interaction with a probation officer, or evade the usage of drugs. The full meaning of restorative justice is simply to take full responsibility for the actions that were committed (del Carmen & Trulson, 2006, p. 446). The purpose of competency is basically doing something that’s going to value another person. Not doing an illegal crime doesn’t count as a standard for competency. Getting offenders involved in different activities would value the community. Activities that value the community are work, community service, dispute resolution, and community problem solving. All of these activities help rebuild the offender, victim, and of course the community (del Carmen & Trulson. 2006, p. 446). The last one which is public safety helps offenders get more involved within the community through

According to Victim-Offender Mediation and Violent Crimes: On the way to Justice by Ilyssa Wellikoff says, "Victim-offender mediation, which developed in the United States around 1970, has obtained a reputation as being an effective and viable form of restorative justice. This program unites victims with their offenders in order to facilitate dialogue that will aid in both the victim's and the offender's healing. " The United States focuses more on just punishing the offender and does not consider how the victim feels of the situation. The United States first instinct is to keep reincarnating the offender instead of trying to figure out a better solution for them. Victim-offender mediation allows the victim to be part of the process after the offence has been made.

The purpose of the restorative justice involves three basic goals: reestablishing the victims, reuniting offenders to the community, and helping to heal the community (Goodstein, and Butterfield, 2010). After being charged with an offense, the offender will always have that label on them and how everyone acts towards the offender will change. Restorative justice practices gives the offender a chance to change their outlook on life after being charged. These type of practices involve repairing and restoring relationships. Victims have the chance to come face-to-face with their offenders which could possibly lead to closure.

Victim Offender Mediation: Two mediation studies conducted in the UK show that 60% of the offenders expressed that the VOM helped them to divert from court cases. Further studies in the US also suggest that the mediation programs successfully diverted offenders from court. An Indiana-Ohio study compared the consequences for seventy-three youth and adults going through VOM programs. One North Carolina program apparently reduced court trials by as much as two-thirds (p.

Showing and expressing emotions is what makes us humans. Usually in a typically justice system, the emotional ones are the victims because they have the right to be emotional because they have experienced harm. In restorative justice programs, the offenders are allowed to show emotional and feel supported. “Restorative justice models have come about because of a growing recognition that the criminal justice system is warehousing large numbers of people—disproportionately, African Americans, Hispanics, and the poor—and tearing apart communities while failing to make them safer. Not only does restorative justice offer deeper levels of engagement and rehabilitation, many argue it’s more cost effective, produces less recidivism, and is more satisfying to victims of crime than the current model” (Suttie).

Restorative justice is based on the principle that criminal behavior injures not only the victim but also the community and the offender, and any effort to resolve these problems caused by criminal behavior should involve all of these parties. Common restorative justice initiatives are victim-offender mediation, circle sentencing, community holistic healing programs, and family group conferences. A key to all these responses to criminal behavior is to address not only the offender, but all parties involved including the victim and their families, offender's family, community citizens, and even the police officers themselves.

In After the Crime: The Power of Restorative Justice Dialogues between Victims and Violent Offenders, its author Susan Miller, provides the reason to why it might be beneficial for both a victim and their offender to meet face-to-face after the crime. Not to mention, what has to happen in order to achieve that through two types of restorative programs. One of the programs is intended to benefit an offender and is known as Diversionary Restorative Justice. This program operates much different from the common Criminal Justice process as it focuses on minimizing the sentence given and seeks to rehabilitate the offender and offers less punishment. This program benefits the offender in their rehabilitative treatment but at the same time benefits

Restorative justice is an alternate to plain criminal justice processes, with roots in ancient and autochthonous types of justice. It focuses on repairing the damage caused by crime, inside the context of relationships and communities. There is a growing interest in restorative justice as a crucial side of criminal justice reform in several elements of the globe. Public Safety Canada is at the forefront of analysis and development during this field. A restorative justice program aims to induce offenders to require responsibility for his or her actions, to grasp the damage they need caused, to offer them a chance to redeem themselves and to discourage them from committing additional damage.

They have one or more people there that act as a coordinator and they normally prepare the victim and the offender so that they will know what to expect. Victim-offender mediation is the oldest practice and is usually used with the victims and offenders of property crime and minor assaults, participants include the victim, the offender, and the facilitator. The face-to-face meeting is based upon the victim and the offender, accompanied by a small number family members and friends. Family group conferencing originated in New Zealand and its purpose was to divert young offenders from formal judgement of court. It usually involves friends and family members for both victims and offenders as well as additional participants from the community.

Restorative justice- an approach to corrective justice that focuses on meeting the need of all concerned.

They discuss the crime and what impact it has had on both the victim and the offender. Restorative process consists of individuals who give support to the offender and the victim during their conversation. There are mediators which help the victim and the offender in the discussion of the impact of the crime and try to help resolve any issues. This process is generally separated into three different portions; these are the preparation for the pre-conference, the conference, and the follow up conference.