Justice is the principle and the process of being fair, righteous and equitable (Tonry, M. H., 2011). It is concerned with the result of using the law somewhat so as to punish and judge criminals and their crimes. Justice comes in different types. These are customary adversarial, retributive justice, and restorative justice. Retributive justice emphasizes on finding a wrongdoing and punishing it. It stresses that a crime deserves a penalty as long as it is an equal reaction to the offense committed (Van, Strong, 2013). Conversely, restorative justice aims at rehabilitating the victim, the offenders and the community that the crime takes place. It makes sure that the relationship between them restores. In this type of justice, criminals typically assume the responsibility of their wrongdoing so that they can help bring a solution to the damage they have caused, and the victims always assist in this (Zehr, 2015). This paper compares restorative and retributive and demonstrates why restorative justice is the best approach to a system of corrections.
Supporters of restorative justice use some reasonable arguments to convince the public of why it is better than other types of punishments and incarceration. For example, proponents argue that it significantly decreases the repeat offending cases for many offenders. It mostly helps reduce recidivism more than double compared to sentencing. It, however, does not work all the time. Through this approach also, most offenses are promptly brought to justice. The costs of criminal justice reduce tremendously (Bukuluki, 2011). Often, when this method is applied, both the offender and the victim get more content and feel that they have gotten justice, in a better way than they could have if the traditional criminal justice applies. Victims of the crime get no or fewer symptoms of post-traumatic stress and, therefore, spend less in treatment. Rarely, does the victim's revenge against their offender when the restorative justice approach applies (Zehr, 2015).
When compared, restorative justice is the best option to be used. As such, it is mainly used to help all the parties involved –the victims, offenders and the community- to integrate. Retributive justice is very disadvantageous because it does none of that and only emphasizes on finding and punishing the wrongdoing. Corrective punishment uses a different approach, which usually involves direct meetings between the victim, the offender, and the public (Van, Strong, 2013). Here, they all talk about how the crime has affected them, and they all agree on how the wrongdoer can pay the victim. Restorative justice may entail returning stolen goods, community service or getting treatment. All this helps the members to heal, ensures payment of rightful compensation, and for the offender to reintegrate in the society and become a law-abiding citizen (Bukuluki, 2011).
Restorative justice has its guiding principles. For example, it is a requirement of justice that the injury caused by a crime receives fair resolution. Secondly, the affected and the involved should be allowed to participate fully in their judgment. Thirdly, the society has a role to make sure that there is just peace prevails, and the government has a role to ensure that there is a public order that is fair (Wenzel, Okimoto, Feather,&Platow, 2008).
The retributive justice system is relatively the one used in the United States, the offender always receives punishment, but the victim gets no other benefit apart from that (Zehr, 2015). The main theory used in this approach is that the state is the primary victim of the crime committed by the offenders, and this is why it has the ultimate power of punishing them. In particular, retributive justice applies in cases that are “victimless” such as drug use, trafficking, and possession (Van, Strong, 2013). Law and morality take center stage. Retributive justice assumes that the laws exist for a moral reason. Therefore, all crimes, victimless or not, have a moral and social norm in it. An offender violates not only the law, but also the moral codes used in the land (Bukuluki, 2011).
All that said restorative justice is, of course, more beneficial. The offender and their victims get more justice because the wrongdoers become responsible in a way that is more constructive and useful. The victim and the offender acquire gratification from restorative justice. In a study done in Northern Uganda, both victims and wrongdoers were found to have high levels of satisfaction with the practice and the outcomes (Bukuluki, 2011). The way that the approach to restorative justice makes its criminal acts interpretations is wider than retributive justice approach, which only defines and interprets crime only as the breaking of law. Instead, it emphasizes that offenders not only harm their victims and society but also harm themselves. For this reason, this approach makes sure that all parties under consideration, including the wrongdoers get justice. In promoting justice, the responsibility of providing justice is not given only to the government, but also the community is involved to deal with crimes at the grass-root (Zehr, 2015).
In conclusion, instead of focusing on the amount of penalty given, restorative justice focuses on the quantity of injury amended, prevented, and the amount of compensation given. To all parties, there are reconciliation and truth, and this is what real justice is. This method also helps the members to have a role in the process, make decisions, and get a right to be heard. As such, restorative justice is the best.
References
Bukuluki, P. (2011). Negotiating retributive and restorative justice in conflict transformation efforts: A case of northern Uganda. Berlin: Lit.
Tonry, M. (2013). The Oxford handbook of crime and criminal justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Van Ness, D. W., & Strong, K. H. (2013).Restoring justice: An introduction to restorative justice. Routledge.
Wenzel, M., Okimoto, T. G., Feather, N. T., &Platow, M. J. (2008). Retributive and restorative justice. Law and human behavior, 32(5), 375.
Zehr, H. (2015). The little book of restorative justice: revised and updated. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
