Reconciliation, Justice, and Domestic Violence: Commentary on Dr. Lawrence W. Sherman.

Source: (2000) Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law. 8: 291.

In this article, the authors respond to Lawrence W. Sherman’s proposal in Policing Domestic Violence: Experiments and Dilemmas (1992) to employ restorative justice programs for cases of domestic violence. They commend Sherman for his treatment of current approaches to domestic violence and for his vision in proposing an innovative solution to the problem. However, the authors also issue several cautions and urge a deliberate approach to adopting restorative justice responses in this area. Thus, while they highlight significant attractions in a restorative justice approach, they also suggest structural and individual difficulties inherent in such an approach to domestic violence.