SOC201 Lecture Notes - Restorative Justice, Adversarial System
Document Summary
Restorative justice is an approach to crime that: Repairing the damage crime causes to individuals and communities. Forcing people to acknowledge the harm that they have done to people. These approaches to justice have been accepted by: Community organizers like community justice initiatives. Courts that are interested in more constructive ways to deal with crime. The needs of victims, communities, and offenders. And ensure that everyone"s rights are respected. Traditionally, crime has been viewed an as abstract offence against the law or the state. An offender is found guilty and punished, perhaps. Usually by means of a fine or imprisonment. Alternative processes of justice need to be developed. Our court-based adversarial system needs to be supplemented by other approaches that allow for the active involvement of the victim, the community and the offender. Each jurisdiction in canada (provincial governments) is responsible for developing their own restorative programs.