In defense of restorative justice: the perils of promising less.

Source: (2013) Restorative Justice: An International Journal. 1(1):47-51.

The heart of his argument is the words ‘restorative justice’ and some of the discourse surrounding restorative practice may have outlasted their value and may now distort more than they enlighten our shared work. I certainly share some of these reservations — most definitely about the ‘victim’/’offender’ labels that fundamentally corrupt the dynamics of the restorative justice process. Although these terms cannot be blamed on restorative justice practitioners, who only adopted the words from everyday usage, CHristie is absolutely right that it is our responsibility to stop using them. The word ‘offender,’ like ‘criminal before it, simply does not do the job that the words are meant to do. (excerpt)