The Governing Paradoxes of Restorative Justice

Description

Restorative justice is the policy of eschewing traditional punishments in favour of group counselling involving both victims and perpetrators. Until now there has been no critical analysis of governmental rationales that legitimize restorative practices over traditional approaches but Governing Practices of Restorative Justice fills this gap and addresses the mentalities of governance most prominent in restorative justice. The author provides comprehensible commentary on the central images of this discursive arena in a style accessible to participants and observers alike of restorative justice.

George Pavlich, PhD (Sociology) is Professor of Criminology Theory/ Culture and Associate Chair of Graduate Studies at the University of Alberta.

'This book is a must read for anyone concerned with the need for reforming America's criminal justice system. Restorative justice aims to address the concerns of the victim in a criminal proceeding.' - CHOICE, April 2006 'The author is a sympathetic critic who embraces many of the aims of restorative justice. Highly recommended- from general readers, upper-division undergraduates through to practitioners.' - M.M Feeley, University of California, Berkeley 'Governing Paradoxes of Restorative Justice is an engaging book, which succeeds in laying bare contradictions and difficulties that lie at the heart of restorative justice. It is a significant contribution to debate about the potential and problems of the most interesting and important breakthrough in thinking about crime and justice that has occurred for some time.' - Theoretical Criminology, vol. 12 no. 1 (February 2008)