Restorative Justice in Practice: Does it Have a Future in Criminology?

Abstract

A lack of a clear definition of restorative justice shared between criminologists and criminal justice practitioners creates unique issues for policy creation and implementation. Existing papers on the benefits of restorative justice usage were also included to showcase how beneficial restorative justice is as an alternative justice approach. Studies included concluded that allowing “restorative justice” as a concept to exist without a clear meaning creates major problems: it complicates efforts to enact it into legislation; allows practitioners’ biases to implement restorative program implementation, especially in relation to racism; and allows practitioners to restructure programs to fit their goals, even if the goals align with the current conventional system instead.