Restorative Justice and Victimology

While many studies on restorative justice conferencing (RJC) for youth offenders have shown favourable outcomes such as victim satisfaction and fairness, and offender accountability and perceived legitimacy, other studies have demonstrated more problematic outcomes in terms of mutual understanding, sincerity of apology and reoffending. Given the complexity of RJC as a concept and as a process, such 'limits' might be attributed to the capacity and characteristics of youth offenders. To date, however, there has been little examination of developmental, cognitive or environmental impediments on the part of youth offenders in terms of achieving restorative outcomes in RJC. This article discusses the potential impacts of limited developmental and cognitive capacities of youth offenders on the RJC process and outcomes.

Since the late 1980s there has been heightened public awareness of child sexual abuse in Ireland, which in no small way has shaped child welfare and legislative provision for the last twenty years. In that time, child sexual abuse has become a significant issue on the Irish social and political agenda, which may have come about in part due to the interest of the media in this issue and the publicity given to 'high profile' cases. Childhood experiences of sexual abuse, recounted in the press and in the course of television documentaries have caught public and political attention in a way not experienced in Ireland before. Stories of child sexual abuse by family members, members of the clergy and by other individuals in positions of trust have sent shock waves through Irish society (McGuiness, 1993). In particular, child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy has received significant public attention, leading to the collapse of a government, the resignation of one bishop i , the stepping aside of another ii , two State inquiries into the handling of abuse complaints by members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy iii and one Commission of Inquiry into abuse of children in residential facilities, run by the Religious Orders on behalf of the State iv . It has also changed the lives of many clerical and religious men and women and of men and women in positions of leadership in the Catholic Church.

In recent years, a small number of studies have investigated the use and impact of restorative justice in cases of sexual violence. While initial findings are broadly positive, the studies are constrained by small sample sizes. This chapter contributes to this emerging body of evidence by sharing the preliminary findings of a study investigating the justice perspectives of a group of sexual violence survivors. This study does not provide a specific analysis of the experiences of those who have engaged in restorative approaches. Rather, it examines the insights of sexual violence survivors on their understandings of 'justice', particularly the concepts of recognition, voice and consequences. In considering the extent to which restorative justice may or may not meet these justice interests, we suggest that some restorative approaches may provide an opportunity to satisfy some elements of the survivors' understandings of justice. Nonetheless, survivors' concepts of justice extend well beyond both the conventional criminal justice system and restorative approaches, such that a far broader, kaleidoscopic, understanding of justice needs to be considered. It is widely accepted that conventional criminal justice systems fail to meet the needs and interests of sexual violence survivors. As a result, there is widespread debate over the possibility of developing and introducing more innovative means of securing justice, including a range of restorative approaches. Such approaches are being considered both as a means of reshaping or re-orientating the conventional criminal justice system, as well as for their potential to provide alternative justice responses beyond the conventional system. However, discussion regarding the potential of restorative approaches to offer some measure of justice for sexual violence survivors has largely proceeded at a conceptual level due to the limited opportunities for restorative justice to be used in this field. While it is vital that we engage in thoughtful analysis of the principles and concepts underpinning any use of restorative approaches in cases of sexual violence, the debate can make only limited progress in an empirical vacuum. Nonetheless, over the last few years, a small number of studies investigating the use and impact of restorative approaches in cases of sexual violence have been published (Daly,. These studies examine the impact of a range of restorative approaches and include the experiences and perspectives of survivors of sexual violence, though they are constrained by small sample sizes. The aim of this chapter is to contribute to this emerging body of evidence by sharing the preliminary findings of a study investigating the justice perspectives of a group of sexual

The article compares dispute resolution processes, especially mediation, in stateless primitive societies, with two modern attempts to annex mediation to the U.S. legal system: Neighborhood Justice Centers (NJCs) and Restorative Justice (RJ).  The failure of the NJCs is acknowledged by those who have not simply forgotten them.  They made promises, based on a flimsy theoretical base, which could not be fulled.  RJ, whose theoretical bases, insofar as it has any, are flimsier still, but its claims are even more far-reaching: to replace retribution with reconciliation, to replace hurting with healing, and to mend the torn fabric of community.  These claims are false or, upon examination, incoherent.  Academic attention to RJ is way out of proportion to its merits and to its marginal role in the legal system.  These schemes of informal justice are paradoxically subordinate elements of formal justice systems.  The conclusion is drawn that forms of dispute resolution which are effective in anarchist primitive societies cannot be, in any authentic versions, incorporated into the legal institutions of state societies.  Another objective of the article is to evaluate the classical anarchist critique of legal order, which is adjudged to be out of date and incomplete, in large part because it has ignored dispute resolution and also ignored the reasonable objections of those who  fear for their safety and security in a society without police, courts, and criminal law.  Ironically, contemporary anarchist criminologists -- who are very few -- either ignore these concerns too, or else advocate Restorative Justice, which is impossible to reconcile with anarchism.

2 The study investigated the intensity of women rights violation like sexual harassment, women and child trafficking, early marriage, dowry, physical torture, polygamy, suicide, divorce, murder, illegal divorce, eve teasing, rape, acid throwing, temporary marriage (hilla) and extra marital affairs-in Bangladesh. Beneficiaries have stated that violence due to "Dowry" is the most severe problem in our country. Other statement also proved that there is a strong dowry-violence link. Some of the violence's were not noticed by the male while doing FGD whereas the female respondents mentioned about polygamy, extra marital affairs, mental torture. Surprisingly none mentioned about suicide, though it is increasing day by day. In most cases, suicide by women directly relates with VAW.

This research analyzes changes made by a juvenile court over five years toward the progressive inclusion of victims as " stakeholders " within the implementation and development of restorative justice practices. Beginning in 1999, the Clark County Juvenile Court (CCJC) in Washington State introduced a Victim Offender Mediation (VOM) program. Subsequently, the court altered diversion and probation practices in ways that provided several significant services to victims, and afforded victims increased decision-making capacity. In doing so, the court also amended how offenders fulfilled their diversion or probation requirements at the court, particularly in relation to its use of VOMs. This research follows the initial inclusion of victims as " stakeholders " within the use of VOMs beginning in 1999, and explicates how and where these stakeholder roles were amended over time until 2005, when the court had largely finalized the structure of victim involvement and participation. The ensuing discussion describes the rationale for the court's changes, and the effects of these changes on how victims were able to participate and make decisions in both diversion and probation cases. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these changes as they involve the role of victims as stakeholders within restorative justice as used in formal justice settings, and in particular the possible limits of such roles when enacted through justice agencies such as juvenile courts.

Justice is truly served at the contentment of the crime victim. Although it is not possible to completely remove the pain of the sufferer, RJ can ease it by letting their voice be heard. While the village courts in Bangladesh are trying, it is up to every judge to make way for RJ in our judicial system.

Since the late 1970s advocates of restorative justice (RJ) have argued that this approach to justice represents an alternative to the dominant social logics of punishment. Critical of rehabilitation and retribution in particular, proponents argue that traditional criminal justice practices exclude victims, limit the ability of offenders to take responsibility and make amends for harms, and place the needs of state policies of crime control over those of individuals and local communities. Moreover, many early RJ proponents were drawn from the prison abolition movement and other social movements, and in its early growth, RJ was frequently articulated not only as a response to victim exclusion or offender accountability, but also in terms of larger goals of transforming the criminal justice system, including the argument that RJ could function as a viable redress to the use and growth of incarceration.

This article introduces corporeal realism to victimology and incorporates work on the sociology of the body to manifest a critical victimology focused on the body–society relationship. It reviews the current literature in the sociology of the body and situates corporeal realism within this oeuvre. This article challenges how the body has often been neglected or treated at the abstract level in victimology and how corporeal realism can provide a basis for analysis of the manifold elements within the purview of victimology. The significance of corporeal realism for victimology is shown by recognizing the role of structure and embodied agency in relation to victims and victimization. In addition, this article evinces epistemological implications of corporeal realism for victimological research.

Abstract
Conclusions and experiences from the debate about maltreatment and sexual assault by staff members during the decades 1950 to 1970 can be useful for child protection today. The article reflects experiences from mediation with the actual director of a children´s home and a group of former victims of maltreatment and sexual assault by female clerical staff (nuns). In the article these experiences are compared with the present situation of sexual assaultive boys in specialized institutions.

Keywords
Debate about maltreatment and sexual assault in German Children´s homes in the past

This article's endeavors will be made to identify and collectively comprehend the law-based analogy of victimless crime and victimology. This article utilizes information from the biggest investigation of wrongdoing victims in Sylhet, Bangladesh. This research investigates the effect of wrongdoing on casualties. Thirty vis-à-vis interviews and almost 80 phone interviews were led with extortion casualties and relatives. Fundamental segment information on the profile of casualties is given and thought about survivors of different wrongdoings. More complete information is additionally offered to identify with the effect of misrepresentation, featuring monetary difficulty, broken connections, mental impacts, mental and actual medical conditions. The article likewise features auxiliary effects, like harm to positive and negative changes in conduct. The wide variety in the effect of guilty parties on casualties is featured: for certain casualties revealing next to zero effect of misrepresentation while others endure decimating impacts. This obliterates the fantasy of extortion being primarily Victimless crime or wrongdoing of lesser effect

This paper examines the forms and function of prophecy in Roho (Spirit-led) Christianity in Africa. It seeks to situate this function within the rubric of biblical prophecy. It takes seriously their beliefs and theological reasoning that informs their practice. We look at forms of biblical prophecy that generally serve as their guiding principle, namely: foretelling and forthtelling. The literature available on Roho Christianity largely focuses on the historical, sociological, and anthropological aspects of this brand of Christianity. Majority of scholars have paid attention to their origins, rituals, and interaction with the larger society. While this is important, there is very little attention given to one of their principal characteristics-an active prophetic ministry. This paper seeks to satisfy the following seven objectives. Firstly, we look at the prophetic role of the church in African society. Secondly, we try to establish the nexus between prophecy and salvation in Roho Christianity. Thirdly, we look at the forthtelling character and function of Jewish prophecy. Fourthly, we look at prophecy as a community constitution in Roho churches. Fifthly, we assess how prophecy acts as group ritual for identity maintenance. Sixthly, we examine ways in which prophecy acts as symbolic Christian ethics. Finally, we explore how prophetic forthtelling enhances socioeconomic support among Roho churches. In order to achieve the foregoing, we look at concepts common to Roho Christianity in an attempt to draw conclusions about the concept and nature of prophecy in Roho churches and convictions connected with them.

Recensione de "Il libro dell'incontro. Vittime e responsabili della lotta armata a confronto" di A. Ceretti , G. Bertagna , C. Mazzucato, Il Saggiatore, 2015. In forma di intervista a cura di Luca Guglielminetti, pubblicata sulla Rivista di Criminologia, Vittimologia e Sicurezza (RCVS) Anno 12, Numero 2, Maggio-Agosto 2018, pp 87-91.

Restorativna pravda kao teorijsko utemeljenje društvene reakcije na kriminalitet jedna je od ključnih tema savremenog kriminološkog diskursa. U korpusu ideja koje ovaj koncept obuhvata, izdvaja se ideja o razumevanju krivičnog dela kao narušenog odnosa između učinioca i žrtve, koja se razlikuje od tradicionalnog razumevanja krivičnog dela kao odnosa države i pojedinca. Ova promena u perspektivi upućuje na drugačije društveno reagovanje, različito u odnosu na tradicionalni krivičnopravni pristup. Kako je proces obnavljanja narušenih odnosa nastalih konfliktom u neposrednoj vezi sa mogućnostima za uključivanje učesnika konflikta u ovaj proces, institucionalizacija participiranja u okviru pravosudnog sistema određuje domet restorativnog procesa. U radu se ukazuje na tradicionalni krivičnopravni pristup i pristup restorativne pravde kao alternativne društvene reakcije na kriminalitet, uz stavljanje akcenta na odnos učinioca i žrtve krivičnog dela i proces rešavanja konflikta. Cilj ovog rada je da ukaže na perspektivu konflikta, kao definišućeg elementa odnosa učinioca i žrtve krivičnog dela, i potencijal restorativne pravde kao efikasne društvene reakcije na kriminalitet, koji doprinosi optimizaciji odnosa zajednice i izvršioca krivičnog dela.


(Restorative justice as the theoretical foundation of social reaction to crime is one of the key themes of contemporary criminological discourse. The idea of crime as a conflict between perpetrator and victim of crime is included in the core ideas related to the concept of restorative justice, which differs from traditional understanding of crime as a relationship between the state and the individual. This change in perspective on crime points towards social reaction to crime that differs from traditional criminal justice system. As the restoration process of relationship damaged by crime is directly related to possibilities of participation in the very process, institutionalisation of that participation sets the scope of restorative process. In this article, the author points towards the traditional criminal justice and restorative justice processes, focusing the relationship of perpetrator and victim of crime and the process of conflict resolution. The aim of the article is to highlight the conflict perspective as a defining element of the relationship between offender and victim, and to underline the effectiveness of restorative justice as social reaction to crime, which contributes to optimisation of the relationship between the offender and the community.)

The Notes from the Field on the developments in the use of restorative justice for hate crime are largely framed from a North American and European perspective, signalling at first the legal/retributive 'gains' that were made in the global North in efforts to increase the punishment of hate crime offenders to conclude after a review of scant alternative practices that future tensions (read old-own emphasis) will likely persist between the punitive emphasis that governments have given to tackling hate crime and those who advocate a restorative approach to resolving harms. The tension between restorative and criminal justice as competing paradigms in dealing with hate or identity crime seems rather remote and appears here as a so-called First World problem when focusing also on more fundamental concerns in large parts of the world that relate to the very prosecution of victims of identity crimes as offenders by the state and criminal justice as its agent. To demonstrate, in Africa only, 34 countries (Human Dignity Trust, 2020) criminalise private, consensual sexual activity between adults of the same sex, and the death penalty is imposed for similar deeds in five countries. Also, on the colonial-postcolonial continuum, state hate crime has been imported and perpetrated in the majority of countries in the Commonwealth, most of them former British colonies.

A criação e organização deste livro foi um sonho produzido em conjunto. Não só um sonho de duas mulheres latino-americanas que ansiavam por uma nova forma de fazer e interpretar a justiça - mas o sonho de diversas pessoas que aceitaram percorrer esta jornada conosco. Em um ano marcado por diversos contextos de privação de direitos, injustiças, racismo, machismo, misoginia, lgbtfobia e pandemia, encontramos naqueles que pensam em transformar o mundo por meio do diálogo e acolhimento, a força para produzirmos este livro tão rico, diverso e denso. São diversas posições, entendimentos, línguas, países e regiões - mas um único sul nos guiou: sulear a justiça restaurativa. Desafiamo-nos a transformar nossas verdades e convicções, problematizar nossos entendimentos e ver a justiça restaurativa
por outro mirante. Assim, guiadas pelo Cruzeiro do Sul, encontramos em Paulo Freire aquilo que fez nossa alma latina pulsar: o sulear.
Em contraposição à lógica nortecêntrica dominante, apresentamos neste livro a amálgama que precisávamos para nos apoiar e construir um novo movimento, em conjunto, que desse conta das necessidades e idiossincrasias da justiça restaurativa latino-americana, a partir do local onde pisamos, considerando a cultura, o meio
ambiente, o contexto, as narrativas, a economia e a geografia como parte desses processos de compreensão de justiça.
Finalizamos esta primeira edição da série “Sulear a justiça restaurativa” com imensa gratidão por todas e todos que contribuíram com este projeto e aceitaram o desafio e o convite para provocar, instigar e ampliar os olhares acerca da justiça restaurativa no sul global, com todas as vicissitudes do território latino-americano.
Boa leitura!

Report about the Maui-Molokai Adult Drug Court, which I created and which achieved over 12 years an 84% success rate for graduates, measured by whether a graduate committed another felony crime.  The program has  many innovative features, not utilized by other drug courts.  So far as I know, this is the only article that describes evolution of a drug court.

This research analyzes changes made by a juvenile court over five years toward the progressive inclusion of victims as “stakeholders” within the implementation and development of restorative justice practices. Beginning in 1999, the Clark County Juvenile Court (CCJC) in Washington State introduced a Victim Offender Mediation (VOM) program. Subsequently, the court altered diversion and probation practices in ways that provided several significant services to victims, and afforded victims increased decision-making capacity. In doing so, the court also amended how offenders fulfilled their diversion or probation requirements at the court, particularly in relation to its use of VOMs. This research follows the initial inclusion of victims as “stakeholders” within the use of VOMs beginning in 1999, and explicates how and where these stakeholder roles were amended over time until 2005, when the court had largely finalized the structure of victim involvement and participation. The ensuing d...

In this article I explore the concept of accountability for young people in youth restorative conferencing. Definitions of accountability in research and programme literature demonstrate significant variation between expectations of young people to admit harms, make amends, address the causes of their offending, and desist from future offending. Such variation is problematic in terms of aligning conferenc-ing goals with accountability expectations. I first draw from research that suggests appeals to normative frameworks such as accountability may not be useful for some young people with significant histories of victimisation, abuse, neglect, and trauma. I then examine problems in accountability for young people that are highly marginalised or 'redundant' in terms of systemic exclusion from economic and social forms of capital. These two issues-trauma on the micro level and social marginalisation on the macro level-suggest problems of getting to accountability for some young people. I also argue trauma and social marginalisation present specific problems for thinking about young offenders as 'moral subjects' and conferenc-ing as an effective mechanism of moralising social control. I conclude by suggesting a clear distinction between accountability and responsibility is necessary to disentangle the conflation of misdeeds from the acute social, psychological, and developmental needs of some young offenders.

A systematic effort to answer in what ways and contexts the claims of restorative justice (RJ) prove persuasive is lacking. We address this gap through a metasynthesis of qualitative studies. Drawing on 26 studies identified through the systematic literature search, we identified three overarching themes to understand "how RJ works": (1) opportunities for humanization, learning, and putting emotions of victims and individuals who committed a crime at the center of conflict-solving, (2) support networks and mechanisms for communication, and (3) life-changing journey enshrined in healing. We develop a line of argument showing how the micro-, meso-, and macro-elements of RJ interact with each other. While offering reflections on the limitations of existing literature around this key issue, we conclude with implications for advancing research of RJ.

Considering the very nature of the International Convention for
the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance as the
21st century international human rights instrument of the new
generations, as well as the specific, hybrid nature of the rights
protected by the Convention, the author analyses specific,
multidisciplinary approach required by such a hybrid nature of
human rights protected by the Convention. This multidisciplinary
approach, among others, includes the strong synergy between
criminal law and medicine as for the prevention as in combating
enforced disappearances. Considering this, author analyzes the
main points under the scope of Convention that require this kind of
synergy. In parallel, author reflects upon the provisions of the
recently adopted Guiding Principles for the Search for Disappeared
Persons that provides for precise, but comprehensive guidelines to
the Member States, but also to countries that have not ratified
Convention so far, on how to search for disappeared persons.

The apology-forgiveness cycle is a simple but powerful process for conflict resolution. Given the prevalence of apology and forgiveness in restorative justice (RJ), the apology-forgiveness cycle may take place. However, there is a lack of a theoretical understanding of the relationship between apology and forgiveness in the RJ processes. After identifying key elements and impediments of the apologyforgiveness cycle during RJ meetings based on existing literature, we develop a theoretical model of the apology-forgiveness cycle during RJ encounters. This typology explains how the apologyforgiveness cycle is intertwined with the RJ process, subsequently facilitating, blocking, and changing its sequence. There are four cycles: (1) apology facilitating forgiveness, (2) apology without forgiveness, (3) forgiveness promoting apology, and (4) forgiveness without apology. We conclude by offering future directions for research on the apology-forgiveness cycle in RJ.

Mediation, as a means of voluntary settlement of legal rights, has become a mainstay in many legal jurisdictions as an alternative in the resolution of disputes and the forgoing of any legal suits by claimants. Its use has also transcended into the sphere of criminal jurisdiction with its elements employed in healing the festering sores of crime - both physical and psychological - on victims and even in the sentencing of offenders, if any, in some jurisdictions. Its application in the Nigerian Judicature has however been marred by reticence due to reading of the offence of Compounding as a bar to settlement of criminal matters without prosecution of offenders. This paper analyses the offence of compounding with the view that it is not a bar, but a guide to be used in the mediation of crime with the aim to preserve society's need for general deterrence alongside an evolving positive legal phenomenon.

This paper will discuss victim-led restorative justice. Addressing the question: why is it that even as restorative justice and restorative processes are offered to victims, as a whole, it is rejected. Autoethnography is the methodology that will be employed to respond to this question. Common definitions and applications of restorative justice will be presented, explicating how they are used, by whom, and to what end. Sawbonna, a new model of restorative justice, will be explained, situating the explanation in the framework of both restorative and criminal justice, and aligning it with social justice, to reveal how it not only challenges common definitions and processes of restorative justice; but, furthers the important discourse on forgiveness and apologies, demonstrating how re-victimization can occur when forms must be filled-in and systems adhered to in order for victim-voice and experience to be heard and viewed as valid. Situating Sawbonna within the context of building relationship with Indigenous Peoples will be explored, underscoring that reconciliation is a pressing, challenging, and vital issue, wherein mistrust, anger, and fear, via a Sawbonna lens, means no quick fixes; means rather commitment to stay the course, no matter the challenges that arise. Sawbonna demonstrates how to use the challenges as opportunities. This paper will conclude with suggestions for implementing concrete ways of addressing how to create safe, inclusive, and powerfully effective means for victims of crime to want to be involved in the justice system via a Sawbonna lens of livedexperience intricately linked to human rights.

In recent years, schools have increasingly begun to opt for an alternative to traditional school punishments: restorative practices.  As the practices developed, proponents began to posit that to unlock the true potential of restorative approaches, community involvement was key (this mirrors the opinion of those promoting restorative justice in the criminal system). 
However, despite this central role for community in the restorative literature, many theorists argue that community involvement is inhibited due to lack of consistent theoretical definition.  Additionally, another criticism is that whilst restorative practices are promoted as an effective response to wrongdoing in schools, much of the research has been undertaken in schools where the circumstances are conducive to the deployment of the practices, with amenable staff and a motivated Senior Management Team. 
My empirical research deviates from these favourable conditions and instead, was undertaken in a school located on one of the most socio-economically deprived estates in the UK.  School leaders reported the significant behavioural and social challenges they faced on a consistent basis.  Their decision to implement restorative practices was primarily as a salve to mitigate serious challenge and a self-defined chaotic atmosphere brought about by a comprehensive change of management structure and ethos, high rates of staff turnover and historically high levels of violent, prejudicial and dangerous behaviour of students. 
Through intensive participant and non-participant observation and thirty-three semi-structured interviews with participants involved in all aspects of the school (Senior Management, teachers, students and members of the wider community) my research provides an insight into this school’s use of restorative practices.  What emerges from this research is the narrative of a wider community perceived by some participants to be apathetic and disengaged.  It exposes the times where the approach of the school and its community contrasts or conflicts and the external factors that impede the school’s ability to utilise restorative approaches.  However, this research also indicates the importance of individual relationships of trust between staff and students and how these relationships can exist as a substitute for an absent wider community.  It reports the influence and necessity of key school pastoral staff in delivering a small-scale, informal restorative agenda and concludes with the notion that restorative approaches are both feasible and desirable in schools of this type.