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Restorative Justice and Earned Redemption: Communities, Victims, and Offender Reintegration

NCJ Number
178438
Journal
American Behavioral Scientist Volume: 41 Issue: 6 Dated: March 1998 Pages: 768-813
Author(s)
Gordon Bazemore
Date Published
1998
Length
46 pages
Annotation
The new reintegrative and restorative justice theories are examined with respect to their foundations and the success of current, preliminary applications of these theories.
Abstract
The discussion argues that the traditional and opposing theories of the retributive paradigm and the treatment model offer only a simplistic choice between helping or hurting offenders, and that these systems fail to address adequately the needs of communities and victims. The author suggests a new model that is reintegrative or restorative justice and is based on specific cultural approaches to crime, as found in New Zealand, Japan, and elsewhere. This approach seeks to address the needs of communities and victims through apology and reparation, a process that aims to lead to the reintegration of offenders into society. Tables, figure, notes, and 129 references (Author abstract modified)