Restorative Justice Essay

Restorative Justice Used Against Domestic Violence With domestic violence being a difficult crime to prosecute due to victim’s hesitation about reporting incidents and stigma still existing in the legal system against victims who do ask for help, it is a good opportunity to test out restorative justice beyond the realm of juvenile court. Traditional criminal justice approaches to handling domestic violence are criticized for robbing the victim of power, relabeling the crime as a disagreement (leading to blame being thrown on the victim as well as trying to place victim and offender on level ground regardless of power discrepancies,) and potentially leading to higher rates of recidivism and victimization. Strong legal action has failed to bring about any aide for the victim, going so far as forcing them to press charges or avoid calling police altogether. While more desirable, standard mediation also falls short of fully helping domestic violence victims. As stated in class and again in
Beyond this, restorative justice also requires more community involvement than other models, a benefit the authors argue will decrease the instances of domestic violence and especially recidivism. The belief here is that domestic violence thrives in an environment where victims lack community support and resources and thus become trapped in a cycle of abuse. With restorative justice bringing in community support by adding to the groundwork laid by feminists in the form of battered women’s shelters, the aim is to empower victims while simultaneously publicly disapproving of the offender’s actions. Battered women’s shelters offer strong support to victims of domestic violence, but restorative justice will be able to fill in any shortcomings (believed mostly to lie in lack of cultural