This is the section wherein the critical spirit which informs this website is perhaps most evident. ‘Theory,’ Aristotle writes in the Nichomachean Ethics, is ‘what matters the most’ in the pursuit of a good life. These writings explore what matters the most in restorative justice, its foundational underpinnings, crucial values, aims and goals, and possibilities to be different.
Hulsman, L. (1986) Critical criminology and the concept of crime, Contemporary Crises, 10, 63–80.
Abstract
‘Are criminal events exceptional?: Problematizing the normal outlook on crime Traditionally we are accustomed to regard criminal law and criminal justice systems, as systems which have been devised by man (society) and are under his (its) control. We are inclined to consider ‘criminal events’ as exceptional, events which differ to an important extent from other events which are not defined as criminal…’
Commentary
This is not a paper on restorative justice but with a work which represents the radical abolitionist stream which has animated the emergence of restorative justice, though today with a rather limited traction, sadly.
Pepinsky, H. and Quinney, R. (1991) Criminology as peacemaking, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Abstract
‘Criminology has traditionally been a military science, a science of war. “The criminal element” is the enemy. Repression and restraint are the primary tools of criminal justice, and criminologists study how to make those tools effective in the “war on crime.” We are beginning to realize that this is a war against ourselves and one that we are losing. Our inability to make peace with crime and criminals is reflected in the paucity of our daily personal relations, where we live by domination and discipline, where forgiveness and mercy are seen as naive surrender to victimization. The essays in this volume propose peacemaking as an effective alternative to the “war” on crime. They range from studies of the intellectual roots of the peacemaking tradition to concrete examples of peacemaking in the community, with special attention to feminist peacemmaking traditions and women’s experience’
Commentary
Again, not exactly a book on restorative justice but a crucial theoretical precursor
Pavlich G (2005) Governing paradoxes of Restorative Justice. London: Glasshouse.
Abstract
‘Restorative justice is the policy of eschewing traditional punishments in favour of group counselling involving both victims and perpetrators. Until now there has been no critical analysis of governmental rationales that legitimize restorative practices over traditional approaches but Governing Practices of Restorative Justice fills this gap and addresses the mentalities of governance most prominent in restorative justice. The author provides comprehensible commentary on the central images of this discursive arena in a style accessible to participants and observers alike of restorative justice’.
Commentary
Pavlich is one of the few and most acute scholars who have engaged in a theoretically informed way with restorative justice. This book is an instant classic for those who, endeared by Foucault and Derrida, wish to generate philosophical insights into the restorative justice universe.
Sullivan, D. and Tifft, L. (2005) Restorative Justice: Healing the Foundations of Our Everyday Lives. 2nd ed. Monsey, N.Y.: Willow Tree Press
Abstract
‘What is restorative justice, and how should it be used to reform our society? Dennis Sullivan and Larry Tifft passionately expound a radical critique of the existing justice system and outline a needs-based restorative justice alternative. They also propose that restorative justice principles be extended far beyond the legal system, to families, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods and other societal institutions’.
Commentary
A radical view on restorative justice, adopting an anarchist and peacemaking criminological perspective which leads Sullivan and Tifft to generate piercing insights into the field. The book is a normative exercise rather than an analytical effort.
Hill, F. D. (2009) Restorative justice: sketching a new legal discourse, Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice, 1(1), pp. 11
Abstract
‘Restorative justice is emerging as an increasingly viable approach to criminal law around the world. Unlike traditional theories of justice–Kantian justice and utilitarian efficiency–restorative justice focuses on the private rather than the public effects of crime. This paper argues that this difference in focus can be traced to the various theories’ conceptions of human nature and subjectivity. Each of the traditional theories, though differing in detail, relies on a conception that is universal, transcendental, and abstract. Restorativists, on the other hand, embrace an understanding of subjectivity that is more akin to the thought of Michel Foucault–an understanding of the individual as a locus of cultural, social, economic, and historical relationships. Restorativism, as seen through a Foucauldean lens, offers an intriguing augmentation of the dominant theories of justice and may serve as a jumping-off point for a more dynamic, agile, and vital approach to the practice of law.‘
Commentary
A legal-philosophical analysis of restorative justice which draws on Foucauldian analysis
London, R. (2011) Crime, Punishment, and Restorative Justice From the Margins to the Mainstream, Boulder: Rienner.
Abstract
‘Is there a place for punishment in restorative justice? Can restorative justice be applied to a full range of offenses? Ross London answers both questions with an unequivocal yes. London proposes that restoration, and especially the restoration of trust, be viewed as the overarching goal of all criminal justice policies and practices. Within that context, he argues that punishment–far from contradicting the goal of restoration–is not only essential for the victim and the community, but also a necessary component for the reintegration of the offender. Drawing on his experience as a judge, prosecutor, and public defender, London offers a pragmatic vision of restorative justice that integrates its core values with real-world applications for even the most serious violent crimes.’
Commentary
An ambitious and wide-ranging book on reimagining restorative justice as a comprehensive criminal justice system.
Aertsen, I. and Pali, B. (2017) Critical Restorative Justice, London: Bloomsbury.
Abstract
‘Theories and practices of justice do not meet the socio-political challenges of our times. For those theorists attempting to develop an alternative to the criminal justice system, restorative justice has provided an alternative horizon. The restorative justice approach involves meeting people, understanding and recognising their vulnerability through participatory and deliberative forums and practices. The aim of this collection is to bridge the distance between restorative justice and the critical theory tradition. It, on the one hand, takes into account the limits of restorative justice as they have been articulated, or can be articulated through critical social theory, and on the other hand emphasises the ground-breaking potential that restorative justice can bring to this tradition as a way to address crimes, conflicts and injustices, and to pursue justice’
Commentary
An excellent updated introduction to a wide range of theoretical approaches to restorative justice
Brooks, T. (2017) Punitive Restoration and Restorative Justice, Criminal Justice Ethics, 36:2, 122-140
Abstract
‘Criminal justice policy faces the twin challenges of improving our crime reduction efforts while increasing public confidence. These challenges are exacerbated by the fact that at least some measures popular with the public are counterproductive to greater crime reduction. How to achieve greater crime reduction without sacrificing public confidence? While restorative justice approaches offer a promising alternative to traditional sentencing with the potential to achieve these goals, they suffer from several serious obstacles, not least their relatively limited applicability, flexibility, and public support. Punitive restoration is a new and distinctive idea about restorative justice modeled on an important principle of stakeholding, which states that those who have a stake in penal outcomes should have a say about them. Punitive restoration is restorative insofar as it aims to achieve the restoration of rights infringed or threatened by criminal offences. Punitive restoration is punitive insofar as the available options for this agreement are more punitive than found in most restorative justice approaches, such as the option of some form of hard treatment. Punitive restoration sheds new light on how we may meet the twin challenges of improving our efforts to reduce reoffending without sacrificing public confidence, demonstrating how restorative practices can be embedded deeper within the criminal justice system.’
Commentary
A distinguished legal theorist arguing for reducing the overall penal system’s punitiveness by envisaging forms of hard treatment (punishment) which are supposedly restorative
Doak, J. and O’Mahony, D. (2018) Reimagining Restorative Justice: Agency And Accountability In The Criminal Process. London: Bloomsbury
Abstract
‘In recent years, restorative-based interventions have expanded rapidly and are increasingly viewed as a legitimate, and even superior means of delivering justice. The result of this swift but piecemeal development has been that restorative justice practice has outpaced the development of restorative justice theory. This book takes up this challenge by ‘reimagining’ a new framework for the operation of restorative justice within criminal justice. In essence, it is contended that the core empowering values of ‘agency’ and ‘accountability’ provide a lens for reimagining how restorative justice works and the normative goals it ought to encompass.’
Commentary
They endeavor to “reimagine” restorative justice: that is, to rethink the meaning, role and position of this acclaimed development in criminal justice and criminological practice and thinking. To achieve this goal the authors devise a conceptual and analytical apparatus inspired by certain normative commitments. The application of their framework to current restorative justice practices produces a number of interesting and significant outcomes that render this book a valuable addition to the canon
Woolford A and Nelund A (2019) The politics of restorative justice: A critical introduction (2nd Ed). Nova Scotia: Fernwood.
Abstract
‘In this updated edition of The Politics of Restorative Justice, Andrew Woolford and Amanda Nelund reconsider restorative justice and its politics and ask how restorative justice might work better to provide transformative justice. To achieve a transformative justice, Woolford and Neulund argue, restorative justice must be concerned with class-based, gendered, racialized and other injustices. This second edition expands on how intersecting socio-political contexts — gendered, racialized, settler colonial, hetero-normative and others — contour the practice and potential of restorative justice. In addition to updated examples and data, this edition discusses the embodied and emotional politics of restorative justice, transformative restorative justice and other-than-human actors/ecological justice’.
Commentary
Another excellent critical study on restorative justice and its socio-political context, from a Canadian angle.
Malzahn, R. (2022) Restorative Justice: A radical vision (Restorative Rustice Eine Radikale vision) Schmetterling Verlag
Excerpt
‘Abolish prisons, dismantle the police – abolitionism is also being discussed more intensively in Germany. With the Black Lives Matter movement in the USA and the truth and reconciliation processes between indigenous First Nations and the white settler society in Canada, there are strong impulses coming from North America to radically question the criminal justice system and its apparatus. The question of what takes the place of police, punishment and prison automatically arises. In Germany, too, there are first attempts at collective transformative justice processes in activist contexts. Restorative justice, on the other hand, which has been on the rise internationally for 30 years, still leads a shadowy existence, not only in the context of criminal justice, but also in political communities. This book is intended to remedy the situation: It provides a comprehensive overview of the history of the origins, theories, state of research, practices, currents and political classification of restorative justice as a movement and procedure.’ (CritRJ translation)
Commmntary
One of the few book-length critical analyses of restorative justice from the German context. Malzahn adopts a distinctively abolitionist approach to rethink restorative justice, providing precious insights
Fattah, E (2022) Justice for Crime Victims: Has the Time Finally Come for a Radical Paradigm Shift? TEMIDA, 25, 1, pp. 7-26
Excerpt
‘How is it that punishment has become synonymous with justice and that justice has become a euphemism for punishment? How is it that justice and punishment have become almost interchangeable terms? How is it that slogans such as ‘justice for victims’ are invariably interpreted as demands for more and harsher punishments. Is punishment truly synonymous with justice?…’
Commentary
A recent theoretical and historical view, written by a victimology pioneer, on the recent developments of justice for victims with multiple implications for the critical understanding of restorative justice.
Duff, R. A. (2012). Restorative punishment and punitive restoration. In Restorative justice and the law (pp. 102-120). Willan.
Abstract
‘My thesis can be stated quite simply. Our responses to crime should aim for ‘restoration’, for ‘restorative justice’: but the kind of restoration that criminal wrongdoing makes necessary is properly achieved through a process of retributive punishment. To put it the other way round, offenders should suffer retribution, punishment, for their crimes: but the essential purpose of such punishment should be to achieve restoration. To put it yet more simply, my slogan is ‘Restoration through retribution’. That thesis sets me in opposition to advocates of restorative justice, and to those critics of restorative justice who argue for a ‘just deserts’ retributivism.’
Commentary
A philosophical reflection on restoration as aim of punishment which reframes radically the well-known opposition between criminal and restorative justice.
Daly, K. (2000). Revisiting the relationship between retributive and restorative justice. Restorative justice: Philosophy to practice, 33-54.
Abstract
‘Punishment is the main activity of the state’s response to crime, and restorative justice should be viewed as an alternative punishment rather than as an alternative to punishment. The author believes that the retributive-restorative justice oppositional contrast is wrong to a certain extent and that philosophical arguments and empirical evidence suggest a complex meshing of censure, symbolic reparation, restorative processes, and justice. She also identifies ethical problems in the practice of restorative justice and lists differences between retributive and restorative justice. In retributive justice, victims are peripheral to the process, the focus is on punishing or treating an offender, the community is represented by the state, and the process is characterized by adversarial relationships among the parties. In restorative justice, victims are central to the process, the focus is on repairing the harm between an offender and a victim, community members and organizations take a more active role, and the process is characterized by dialogue and negotiation among the parties.’
Commentary
A widely cited work on the relations between restorative and retributive justice, arguing against their stark opposition, sometimes found in the literature
‘Criminology has traditionally been a military science, a science of war. “The criminal element” is the enemy…We are beginning to realize that this is a war against ourselves and one that we are losing’.
Harol Pepinsky and Richard Quinney