Restorative justice, Inmate forgiveness, and the Right to Privacy Assignment

Restorative justice, Inmate forgiveness, and the Right to Privacy - Assignment Example To this end, the paper addresses the concerns of the family and restates the benefits of meeting the inmate. Introduction Restorative justice is a type of justice whereby the parties who have stake in crime, victims, offenders and their families together with the community, collectively agree on how to deal with the consequences of crime and its future implications (The Sage Dictionary of Criminology, 2005). It is based on the view that crime is not only a transgression against laws but also hurt human social interactions. Therefore, the main aim of this form of justice is to heal the damaged interpersonal relationship caused by the wrongdoer’s actions. To this end, restorative justice takes it that both the victim and offenders families are affected by the crime. Consequently, their participation is crucial in conflict resolution and justice administration. Q1. The restorative justice principles are in line with biblical teachings about justice which focuses on repentance, fo rgiveness and reconciliation (Miller, 2008). As so, the process gives the offenders an opportunity to understand and assess the impacts of their actions. Therefore, this form of justice does not address the injustice with harm or punishment. Consequently, it is not retaliatory in nature and therefore, yields great social benefits to the community. Instead of taking an eye for eye approach, which is a moral issue, it focuses on community members’ integration. In doing so, this form of justice recognizes that nobody is beyond the point of correction. Therefore, no matter the crimes committed, an individual must actively respond to crimes. The process of restorative justice may take many forms; restitution is one of them. Restitution refers to the process of compensating victims for the losses suffered as a result of the offender’s actions. It is founded on the view that when a crime is committed, the wrongdoer benefits at the expense of the victim. Therefore, for justice to prevail, the offenders should give back what they took from the victims as a whole or in part depending on the agreements reached. This is form of justice is also found in biblical teachings. There are texts in the scriptures that refer to the distribution of wealth in exchange for salvation for those who had unfairly accumulated riches. By practicing restitution, justice is given meaning through active involvement. For, there is no justice done when victims still feel that they have been denied their rightful entitlement. Q2. The application of restorative justice concept in criminal justice system has raised serious ethical issues. By its nature, the concept adopts reconciliation and compensation as possible methods of administering justice. Under, reconciliation a victim may accept to forgive the offender after face to face deliberations. However, the issue of whether or not the forgiveness is for greater social good is remains contentious. According to utilitarian theory, ac tions moral worthiness is gauged by the beneficial outcomes of such actions (Pollock, 2012). Consequently, based on this theory, some crime are not worth forgives because of their magnitude of harm. This includes crime against humanity such as genocide and terrorism which results into many deaths. Besides, besides, in as