Resoritive Programs
...focus on its shortcomings and downfalls. These may include, problems with mandatory sentencing, overcrowding in the jails, and courtrooms facing case loads that are virtually impossible to handle to name a few. But, despite these problems, there is a revolution starting to gain momentum that will hopefully change every aspect of the criminal justice field for the better. Restorative Justice is unlike any practice that is currently used on a nation wide scale, though many states and nations are beginning to implement its principles on a smaller scale, and seeing its benefits. One aspect that is relatively new to Restorative Justice is its use within the prison system itself. There are a few programs leading the way and opening the door for others like them to be implemented. Before looking at the programs themselves, it is important to understand the philosophy behind Restorative Justice and the goals it seeks to attain.
Perhaps the best way to do this is to compare Restorative Justice to our current system, which can be described as Retributive Justice. First, Restorative Justice makes the victim the center of the proceedings, whereas in the retributive model, the focus is all on the offender. In a paper written on Restorative Justice, an unknown author says:
While the offender is the centerpiece in criminal justice proceedings, it is not necessary that they be directly accountable to the victim for their wrongdoing. In restorative justice, the offender is primarily accountable to the victim and then to the community. A key difference between retributive and restorative justice paradigms is the idea that crime is sanctioned against more constructively through a process which the community and the offender do something for the victim, rather than the state doing something against the offender.
The key to restorative justice is the victim, not the...
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