How Does Prison Retributive Justice?

It becomes hard to theorize a reality without prisons when society has reproduced dominant narratives around the functions of imprisonment, however it starts with critical resistance from the root of the problem, which links to the legacies of colonialism.

‘A Peacemaking Approach to Criminology’ was written by Louis J. Gesualdi, and published in 2013. It contains a review of different writings, which relate to criminology. The main argument of Gesualdi lies in promoting a humane way of handling crime and deviants. The book proposes a peaceable way of dealing with offenders in a manner that accords respect to human rights. Further, Gesualdi notes that the criminal justice system is concentrated on inflicting harm on the offenders by punishing them. He argues that the system is fixated on the notion of reacting to crime rather than prevention. Hence, the book proposes an approach where restorative justice and prevention of crime can be accommodated in the criminal justice system. The main

The article discusses the integration of restorative justice techniques into the juvenile justice system in Chicago, Illinois, focusing on U.S. prisons, the efforts to develop an effective alternative to imprisonment, information about recidivism and the input of victims of crimes. Other topics include life sentences for young killers, violence reduction programs, and various methods of punishment in places such as Minnesota. Victim-offender mediation and peacemaking are examined, along with Canadian courts and community

Rooted in our civilization, restorative justice was once viewed as a sin against a sovereign society of a King, Queen, or Emperor. Albert Eglash (1975) first articulated restorative justice over retributive and rehabilitative justice, an indeed search for the original status of security of the victim’s feelings. Restorative Justice, a more victim-centered aspect of punishment than the offender, however, the victim should consider, what it is that restorative justice will restore to its original state of security, and would it be enough justice that the victim seeks.

Many individuals believe that the criminal system and its institutions are flawed. These critiques have been brought on by the ineffectiveness of prisons to reform individuals, the ineptness of the system to reduce crime rates, the lack of focus on victims of crimes, as well as the racist, classist and sexist practices existing in these institutions. Therefore, we can ask ourselves if the elimination of the current penal system and the implementation of alternatives would better allow

I strongly believe that restorative justice is an extremely beneficial and efficient approach to the rehabilitation of the offenders and victims. The current criminal justice system seen in Canada and the United States have time and time again proved the inefficiency and inadequacy of retributive justice. The goal of restorative is to repair the harm caused by a crime, while simultaneously attempting to facilitate the healing of the victim, offender and community. Restorative justice programs address the needs of the individuals involved through the use of an all inclusive and humanistic approach in hopes to achieve justice. It ultimately rejects the idea that the offender should be punished equally according to their offense, rather it acknowledges the reality of social inequity.

They are ‘informal’ in the sense that they apply non-state methods of conflict resolution (Kariuki, 2015). These procedures typically aim at restoring social peace instead of enforcing abstract legislation and in many cases reflect prevailing community norms and values. While some may view the restorative approach as ‘soft’ on crime, in reality it promotes the possibility of a win-win outcome for the offender, the victim, and the society in general (Lab, 2015). It is important to realize that this approach does not necessarily reject punishment entirely. Instead, it views it as an addition to restorative measures, such as forgiveness; therefore relieving victims, offenders, and the community at large from the psychological effects of crimes committed (Van Wormer & Walker, 2013). Additionally, restorative justice is a progressive and preventive response that strives to understand crime in its social context. It challenges one to examine the root causes of violence and crime in order to break these cycles (Berlin, 2016). This requires the assumption that crimes or violations are committed against real individuals, rather than against the state. The goal of restorative justice is not just to punish the perpetrator, but to compensate the victim for their loss, to prevent the accused from committing the crime again, and to reintegrate both the victim and offender

When we think about prisons, jails, and courthouses, our minds are meant to draw a connection to cold, hard, justice and fair punishments for guilty and deserving parties. Yet, in our judicial and prison systems around the world, this idea is nowhere close to reality. From inhumane punishments, to mass incarceration, and “trapping” people in the system based on race or financial status, justice is far from being served.

In the United States, each day approximately 1,600 adults are released from state and federal penitentiaries to reintegrate back into the community (Gunnison & Helfgott, 2013). Reentry programs have been created all over the nation to help offenders successfully transition from prison into society. Offenders are confronted with numerous obstacles when attempting to reintegrate back into society. Ninety-five percent of offenders are released to reintegrate back into the community (Davis, Bahr, & Ward, 2013). Upon release, ex-offenders realize that despite the fact that they are no longer incarcerated, they face many restrictions. The restorative justice development rose to address the disappointment of the criminal justice framework to manage victims, offenders, and communities in an integrated way. A core focus of this development has been to expand the role of the community in advocating changes that will avert the issues and conditions related with crime and the demand for a criminal justice intervention (Hass & Saxon, 2012).

Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means

The experience of stakeholder groups across the globe is that restorative justice programs hold considerable potential to more effectively address, and repair, the harm done by criminal offending. At the same time, restorative justice programs can provide crime victims with a more powerful voice, criminal offenders with the opportunity to acknowledge responsibility for their behavior and receive the assistance they require to address their particular needs, and communities with a more effective strategy to not only respond to crime but to develop and strengthen their conflict prevention and resolution capacity. Restorative justice is not a “one size fits all” approach to crime. As such, it continues to evolve and assume new forms as governments and communities implement restorative justice principles in a manner that most effectively meet the needs of crime victims, offenders and community residents. A measure of the success of the restorative approach is that it has spawned many different types of programs and processes.

The criminal justice system is a set of agencies and processes established by governments to control crime and impose penalties on those who violate laws. Different jurisdictions have diverse laws, agencies, and ways of managing criminal justice processes. In recent years, it has been debated that the criminal justice system has two primary and possibility conflicting perspectives known as the retributive justice approach and the restorative justice approach. Retributive justice and restorative justice have contrasting approaches when imposing punishment, that will be explored within this research paper, in regards to the disadvantages and potential advantages resulting from the implementation of it’s polices within the criminal justice system. These two perspectives have been implemented amongst many different criminal justice systems internationally, however the questions still remain, what is justice? And how should justice be served? This debate has created a divide between countries, due to the differing interpretations of justice and it’s response to criminal activity. The statistical information has been extracted from various online sources listed within the references as well as primary and secondary sources, “Prisons” by Haley, James and “Alternatives to Prisons” by Jennifer Skancke.

How many inmates were isolated from their communities when they had committed a crime or when they got released from the prisons? And how many effective programs can be helpful for them?Many posts-release prisoners have experienced recidivism and social stigmas due to lack of programs. In fact, restorative justice for people in prison has played a big role in our correctional systems in many different ways.Restorative justice in prison shapes our prisoner 's morals and abilities by providing a suitable technique. Although punishment may play a part in restorative justice techniques, the central focus remains on relationships between the affected parties, and healing reached through a deliberative process guided by those affected parties.( Tsui,2014). For instance, many inmates have attended into reentry programs and educational orientations when they finished their time in prison. These programs cost less money for the government, and inmates can be reintegrated into societies easily. Many post-release prisoners have avoided recidivism after these effective programs taught them the value of lives. This study will examine the importance of restorative justice in prison, which is essential for our correctional facilities. Numerous studies have been done recently which focused on this restorative justice.For example, restorative justice answers the justice question in a different way.(Toews,p.5,2006).

Traditionally, there have been four justifications for punishment: deterrence, confinement, rehabilitation and retribution. While these methods can be flawed at some point in history they served as primary reasons for the justification of punishment. Recently, there has been an epistemic shift in thinking about punishment where now it is focused on retribution and incarceration. The emphasis on this method has lead to an increase in incarceration and the rise of a prison system. While we acknowledge that there will always be a need for society to punish criminals in order to protect the rights of individuals, however a prison/prison system is not the correct way to handle such problems. Currently the prison system is being used an economic tool for private companies to exploit cheap labor from inmates. Known as the prison-industrial complex private enterprises are now able to build more prisons to “benefit” society and themselves as the prison population grows. Since the 1980’s the growth in prison

In prisons today, rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution are all elements that provide a justice to society. Prisons effectively do their part in seeing that one if not more of these elements are met and successfully done. If it were not for these elements, than what would a prison be good for? It is highly debated upon whether or not these elements are done properly. It is a fact that these are and a fact that throughout the remainder of time these will be a successful part of prison life.