Source: (2006) Journal of Black Studies. 37(2):299-319.
Restorative justice has been suggested as a means to deal with disproportionate
minority confinement and other social problems within communities
of color, specifically the Black community. However, scholars and
practitioners have pointed out cultural concerns that must be addressed in
the restorative justice process. Afrocentric theory and its principles have
been suggested as away to deal with the cultural concerns within the restorative
justice process. This article examines the contemporary and historical
means of informal dispute resolution in the Gullah Islands of South
Carolina. These strategies of dispute or conflict resolution were used to
deal with crime, delinquency, civil matters, community grievances, and
other social wrongs outside the traditional common and civil legal systems.
Through on-site in-depth interviews, focus groups, and an analysis of archival
documents, the research determined that the strategies used on the
Gullah Islands fell within the Afrocentric restorative justice model. (author’s abstract)
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