ASSIGNMENT 1
Assignment 1: Restorative Justice
Various arguments have been presented in the past, both for and against restorative justice. I am of the opinion that the relevance of restorative justice cannot be overstated in the contemporary criminal justice system. To begin with, it would be prudent to note that as Pavlacic, Kellum, and Schulenberg (2021) point out, traditionally, the standard focus in seeking to respond to various kinds of crimes and wrongdoing in the US has been retribution, i.e. by sending people to jail. As the authors further indicate, costs associated with this response have been prohibitive. More specifically, in the words of the authors, states incur incredible mass incarceration costs because of these ineffective practices (Pavlacic, Kellum, and Schulenberg, 2021, p. 2). Towards this end, the embrace of restorative justice practices would be an ideal way of reining in the unsustainable mass incarceration costs. Secondly, it should be noted that as Lloyd and Borrill (2020) indicate, various meta-analyses have clearly demonstrated that restorative justice practices do result in lower rates of reoffending. This is in This is a finding collaborated by yet another study on how effective restorative...…apportion greater focus on fully addressing the needs of the victim other than certain outcomes of the programs (i.e. offender rehabilitation).
In the final analysis, it should be noted that based on the findings of the discussion above, restorative justice would serve our countrys legal system best. This is more so the case given that it has been deemed more cost effective than punitive justice, i.e. in as far as the present cost of mass incarceration is concerned. Restorative justice would also help reduce the burden on the countrys criminal justice system as some restorative justice practices have been shown to result…
References
Choi, J. J., Bazemore, G., & Gilbert, M. J. (2012). Review of research on victims’ experiences in restorative justice: Implications for youth justice. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(1), 35–42.
Lloyd, A. & Borrill, J. (2020). Examining the Effectiveness of Restorative Justice in Reducing Victims’ Post-Traumatic Stress. Psychological Injury and Law, 13, 77-89.
Pavlacic, J.M., Kellum, K.K. & Schulenberg, S.E. (2021). Advocating for the Use of Restorative Justice Practices: Examining the Overlap between Restorative Justice and Behavior Analysis. Behav Anal Pract., 25, 1-10.
Sherman, L.W., Strang, H., Wilson, E., Woods, D. & Ariel, B. (2015). Are Restorative Justice Conferences Effective in Reducing Repeat Offending? Findings from a Campbell Systematic Review. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 31, 1-24.
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