Restorative Justice Essay

5520 Words23 Pages
Restorative Justice 1 Restorative Justice Kate J. Burkhardt Professor G. George Psychology 48-410: Crime & Custom April 20, 2009 Restorative Justice 2 As the Prison Fellowship International Centre defines it, restorative justice is “a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused or revealed by criminal behaviour” (2009). During the past decade, restorative justice models have been widely proposed as potentially effective strategies to deal with the array of socially and culturally problematic situations confronted by Aboriginal communities. As a result, restorative justice practices are currently being employed in many Native communities for a wide range of criminal behaviours. Restorative justice has been posited as a conceptualization of justice that is most congruent with the historically embedded cultural and communal values of Aboriginal peoples. Nonetheless, I contend that several challenges are evident in the effective implementation of restorative justice within Aboriginal communities. Amongst such obstacles, I claim that restorative justice necessitates implementation as Aboriginal justice originally intended, instead of as a conceptualization of White orientalists. In my view, the tendency to utilize uniform restorative justice strategies depreciates and overlooks the heterogeneity of identities and experiences amongst Native populations. I contend that it is integral to acknowledge the distinctions between Aboriginal peoples. I also argue that it is imperative to confront the differences between restorative and contemporary justice philosophies regarding offenders, the nature of crime, conflict resolution, and sanctioning, in order to ensure that restorative justice can perform in practice what supporters claim are its capabilities in theory. Furthermore, restorative justice practices must be tailored to best facilitate the
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