Restorative Justice and Earned Redemption

Abstract

The author provides a comprehensive discussion of the roots of the new reintegrative and restorative justice theories as well as the success of current, preliminary applications of these theories. Arguing that the traditional and opposing theories of the retributive paradigm and the treatment model offer only a simplistic choice between helping or hurting offenders, the author contends that these systems fail to address adequately the needs of communities and victims. In place of these two paradigms, he suggests a new model that he terms reintegrative or restorative justice. This new theory, based on specific cultural approaches to crime found in New Zealand, Japan, and elsewhere, seeks to address the needs of communities and victims through apology and reparation, a process that hopefully leads to the reintegration of offenders into society.