Restorative Justice: Prison as Hell or a Chance for Redemption?

Source: (2002) New York: Algora Publishing.

In 1996 Jennifer Furio undertook a sociological study of criminals. She began with a bias against them as basically faceless and destructive people who had harmed others. Her encounters, however, led her to see them as people, as human beings who were in their own way victimized as well. In other words, clearly their criminal actions had victimized others, yet they were also victims in a different way. Her perspective on the justice system changed dramatically, and she concluded there had to be systematic change in the way we think socially and judicially. There had to be a new approach in order to break the cycle of violence. Her investigation led her to a perspective that restorative justice provides a systematically different way to approach conflict and violence and those affected by them. In this book, then, Furio focuses on restorative justice in relation to offenders, specifically those incarcerated for criminal wrongdoing. She begins with explanations of restorative justice foundations and principles. Then she considers the measurement of results in restorative justice. She continues by looking at issues of forgiveness, faith, sentencing, punishment, victims and offenders, and reintegration of offenders. Her study includes discussion of Prison Fellowship in the United States and around the world, family involvement in restorative justice, and children and restorative justice.