Emerging Processes and Concepts of Restorative Justice and Its Implication to Criminal Justice in the United States

Abstract

Historically, victims were given little or no consideration in the criminal justice process until social movements formed in the 1960s, in which activists and scholars called for social reforms. Since then, a series of measures aiming to assist victims have been established. However, over years victims and their families have been expressing their frustration and dissatisfaction toward the criminal justice system and claiming that the system has failed to fulfill their needs. The restorative justice process emerged in the 1980s, which allows victims to speak about their victimization, to be informed, to be treated fairly, and to discuss the reparation with offenders, including an apology. While restorative justice practices have been applied in various settings, such as schools, and workplaces and different cultural contexts, including Western and non-Western countries, this paper focuses on the criminal justice system within Western cultural contexts, the United States, particularly. This paper consists of five sections. The first looks at how restorative justice emerged as an influential force in American criminal justice. The second discusses the evolving definition of restorative justice. The third discusses underlying justification of restorative justice and how restorative justice was integrated into criminal justice legislation or policies in some countries, including New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. The fourth introduces the major forms of restorative justice, such as victim-offender mediation (VOM) and family group conferencing (FGC). The fifth section identifies issues and implications for expanding restorative justice policies in the United States.