ABSTRACT
The focus of this chapter will be the ideals of restorative justice theorists. Restorative justice has been described as a ‘deeply contested concept’ (Johnstone and Van Ness 2007b, 9). There is no single agreed meaning of restorative justice: proponents’ views differ on exactly what kind of transformation their movement seeks to achieve. For example, some primarily want to create a way of doing criminal justice which involves crime stakeholders in the decision-making about what needs to be done in the aftermath of an offence (Marshall 1996; McCold 2000). Others see developing a form of justice which seeks to repair the harm caused by crime as a priority (Bazemore and Walgrave 1999b; Walgrave 2000a). Yet others view transformations of individual selves and of the whole social context in which crimes are committed as the main objective (Morris 2000; Sullivan and Tifft 2001). However, despite these differences, it may be possible to identify key aspirations and ideals of the restorative justice movement, many of which will be discussed below. This chapter will look at the following restorative aspirations:
to create a new ethical orientation; to develop an alternative to punishment and treatment; to craft a model of criminal justice which will place victims at its centre; to design a way of doing criminal justice which will aim to repair harm and restore peace and harmony in the aftermath of a criminal offence; to construct a justice paradigm that will be characterized by voluntariness; to develop a model of criminal justice which will be de-professionalized, community-based and empowering for crime stakeholders.
