The re-emergence of restorative justice occurred across the globe during the 1970’s as a viable alternative to traditional criminal justice processes (Mika & Zehr, 2003). Restorative justice focuses on repairing the harm caused to the victim by the offender after an offense has occurred (Maxwell, 2007a, 2007c; Zehr, 1990). The 1990’s saw the implementation of the Family Group Conference (FGC) in New Zealand’s youth justice system with the passing of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989. FGC’s were the result of a number of factors pertinent during the 1980’s, including, but not limited to, the failure of the criminal justice system to take account of issues for victims and the injustices that had occurred for Māori youth
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Mix views have been presented regarding the research that has been conducted. Empowering processes such as participation, a say in the proceedings and healing for victims have been identified in several studies (Umbreit, Coates, & Vos, 2002, 2007; Umbreit, Vos, & Coates, 2005). In contrast, Zernova (2007a) has argued that empowerment is restricted for key stakeholders, ensuring power remained within the criminal justice system, to allow their agenda to be met. Aertsen et al (2011) also found that empowerment that is promoted within restorative justice is limiting, in that it focuses on the private dimension of crime but not the public dimension that promotes change. They have however acknowledged that empowerment can occur for victims, which is also reiterated in the …show more content…
Firstly, I graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts, double major in Criminology and Conflict Resolution, and was of the belief that these two fields needed to meet to better address crime and the needs of victims and offenders. It wasn’t until 2012 when I was first introduced to Restorative Justice by my now Primary Supervisor Dr. Antje Deckert. My idea of a process that adopted methods from conflict resolution, but implemented into a criminal justice realm had already been developed. From there I was hooked. I truly believe that restorative justice is a complementary process to the traditional criminal justice system, but I am not naïve enough to assume it is perfect. Hence, my endeavor to contribute and critique restorative justice, in the hopes that this study would produce new knowledge that could create a positive impact for those that it
Mix views have been presented regarding the research that has been conducted. Empowering processes such as participation, a say in the proceedings and healing for victims have been identified in several studies (Umbreit, Coates, & Vos, 2002, 2007; Umbreit, Vos, & Coates, 2005). In contrast, Zernova (2007a) has argued that empowerment is restricted for key stakeholders, ensuring power remained within the criminal justice system, to allow their agenda to be met. Aertsen et al (2011) also found that empowerment that is promoted within restorative justice is limiting, in that it focuses on the private dimension of crime but not the public dimension that promotes change. They have however acknowledged that empowerment can occur for victims, which is also reiterated in the …show more content…
Firstly, I graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts, double major in Criminology and Conflict Resolution, and was of the belief that these two fields needed to meet to better address crime and the needs of victims and offenders. It wasn’t until 2012 when I was first introduced to Restorative Justice by my now Primary Supervisor Dr. Antje Deckert. My idea of a process that adopted methods from conflict resolution, but implemented into a criminal justice realm had already been developed. From there I was hooked. I truly believe that restorative justice is a complementary process to the traditional criminal justice system, but I am not naïve enough to assume it is perfect. Hence, my endeavor to contribute and critique restorative justice, in the hopes that this study would produce new knowledge that could create a positive impact for those that it