“Restorative justice and the offender: The challenge of reintegration.”

Source: (2001) In Restorative community justice: Repairing harm and transforming communities, ed. Gordon Bazemore and Mara Schiff, 101-126. With an introduction by Gordon Bazemore and Mara Schiff. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing Co.

The authors observe that since the mid 1990s the set of ideas known as restorative justice and community justice has become increasingly visible as presenting an alternative justice paradigm. Consequently, this set of ideas has been subjected to increased commentary and even criticism. Some of the commentary and criticism have raised fair questions; some have misrepresented or misidentified what restorative justice is and is not. Additionally, and surprisingly for the authors, some criticism of restorative justice has been raised by advocates of less punitive and more humane treatment of offenders. In response, the authors attempt to outline an explicitly restorative perspective on the offender. Building upon restorative justice’s emphasis on the repair and rebuilding of social relationships, they seek to draw out implications for a more holistic approach to offender reintegration and rehabilitation. Toward these ends, they compare and contrast restorative justice and other paradigms and perspectives on the offender. They examine how restorative justice principles can inform reintegrative strategies, and they point toward a restorative theory of reintegration, with the social relationship as an integrating concept.