An Expansive, Transformative View of Restorative Justice

Abstract

This article addresses two distinct but related concerns. The first section argues for adoption of a wide‐ranging conceptualization of restorative justice, one that encompasses concern for community, structural, economic and social levels of attention, as well as personal and direct consideration for parties to crimes and conflicts. It is a view of restorative justice, like that espoused by Sullivan and Tifft, that is transformative in conception, ambition, and operation. It is based on awareness that making distinctions between restorative and community justice may be useful for some purposes but expresses a preference for thinking of these two perspectives as part of a larger whole. The second part of the article highlights 10 values or principles that may help guide the development and implementation of an expansive view of restorative justice. It suggests that a person who wishes to pursue a more peaceful and just world should be ethically engaged, behave in an exemplary fashion, beware of and avoid exploitation, fully embrace equality, be empathic, act so as to empower oneself and others, recognize the entwinement of all people and the earth, select interventions that are effectual while being error‐aware, appreciate that ends and means are enmeshed, and act with earnest enthusiasm.

Keywords:

• Restorative Justice
• Community Justice
• Transformative Justice
• Core Values
• Ethics
• Peacemaking Criminology

Notes

M. Kay Harris is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and an Affiliated Professor of Women’s Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. Correspondence to: Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University, 538 Gladfelder Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. Tel: 215 204‐5167; Email: [email protected]

I would like to acknowledge the inspiration provided by my mother, Bernice Luella Harris, in developing this list of ‘E‐values.’ I was lying on a cot in my mother’s hospital room late one night while she was recovering from surgery. Neither of us could sleep so I told her about what I was writing and she started helping me with this mnemonic device. My mother had been an elementary school teacher and loved the English language, so she would say things like, ‘How about “excellence”?’ or ‘Could you somehow use “enhancing,” as in enhancing the well‐being of others”?’ My mother died in August 2003 at the age of 93. Ave atque vale, mater, in perpetuum.

The South African Department of Correctional Services relinquished control of the island and former prison on January 1, 1997, and the institution has since been converted into a museum.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

M. Kay Harris

M. Kay Harris is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and an Affiliated Professor of Women’s Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. Correspondence to: Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University, 538 Gladfelder Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. Tel: 215 204‐5167; Email: [email protected]