Restorative justice in prisons

Source: (2001) Paper presented at the Restorative and Community Justice: Inspiring the Future conference, held in Winchester, England, 28-31 March.

Tim Newell is governor of HM Prisons Grendon and Springhill. He notes that restorative justice has been seen in England and Wales as primarily a diversion procedure for young, minor offenders. It has not been seen as addressing the main concerns that the public, judiciary, and politicians want to see the justice system satisfy (e.g., public safety, proportionate punishment, redressing the injustice, and rehabilitation of the offender). Newell, however, asserts that it is possible to restorative justice as the only approach that addresses those concerns. Moreover, rather than seeing restorative justice and prisons as at opposite ends of the spectrum, he maintains that the debate about restorative justice and prisons must become more central in order to establish the validity of restorative justice as a realistic approach to the core issues of criminal justice.