Meeting Human Needs: The Potential of Restorative Justice

Source: (2006) In Anthony J. W. Taylor, ed., Justice as a Basic Human Need. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Pp. 71-84.

“The conventional criminal justice system can be criticized for its failure to respond to offending in ways that meet human needs for identity and self-esteem, forgiveness, healing, repair, and reintegration. Further, the exisiting system leads to high levels of reoffending, adds considerably to costs in keeping offenders for longer periods in prison, fails to protect the community adequately from offending, and leads to dissatisfaction among victims. In contrast, the processes of restorative justice provide options that go some way towards reversing these trends and, at the same time, towards better meeting basic human needs. In this chapter, we describe the values that underlie restorative justice and the processes that have been developed in New Zealand that exemplify them. We assess the evidence on empowering victims and offenders, increasing their involvement in the processes, on repairing harm, and on reintegrating into society those who have been alientated from it.” (excerpt)