Some thoughts on restorative justice and gender in the Pacific

Source: (2000) Dialogue: Academy Newsletter 19 (3): 29-33. Canberra: Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Margaret Jolly begins this article with summaries of perspectives on restorative justice from Sinclair Dinnen and John Braithwaite. Among their common ideas and distinctive emphases, Dinnen and Braithwaite each caution that restoration and retribution are both ideal types: most legal systems include both restorative and retributive elements. Jolly points to restorative and retributive elements in both European traditions and Pacific societies. It would seem then that “best practice” would involve a creative connection of introduced and indigenous forms. Jolly, however, questions this by considering the challenge of gender differences within both introduced and indigenous traditions. She highlights this in particular with reference to gender and justice in relation to domestic violence and rape.