Testing the Limits of Restorative Justice: The Case of Corporate Victims

Source: (2002) In, Carolyn Hoyle and Richard Young, eds., New Visions of Crime Victims. Oxford: Hart Publishing. p. 133-172.

In this essay, Richard Young notes that restorative justice is a term encompassing a diverse set of values, principles, and practices that share a common orientation towards repairing the harm caused by crime. In practice, many restorative justice approaches stress the importance of facilitating some form of communication between victims and offenders. Such a process is intended to show concern for the interests of both victims and offenders. With respect to victims, the emphasis is often on the psychological or emotional benefits that may accrue from victim-offender communication. Young addresses whether this emphasis in restorative justice limits its applicability. Specifically, he maintains that the perspective of some restorative justice theorists, with their focus on crime as primarily a violation of one individual by another, underplays the complexity of victim-offender identities and relationships. Much crime is committed against, as well as by, through, or on behalf of, organized groups, corporate entities, and organs of the state. Young argues that restorative justice may have limited applicability in the case of corporate victims or corporate offenders.