Retributive justice is a criminal behavior response that concentrates on punishing lawbreakers and compensating victims. Retribution is based on the law of retaliation. On the other hand, restorative justice brings together parties involved in a dispute to solve an offense. According to Kelly (2021), restorative justice program allow the offender and the victim to meet face-to-face before coming to an understanding. Retributive and restorative justices have various differences. One of the differences between restorative justice and retributive justice is that restorative justice concentrates on preventing the harm caused by the offender while retributive justice concentrates on mainly punishing the offender. Additionally, restorative justice involves negotiation and conversation between the parties while retributive justice involves antagonistic relationship between the parties. In restorative justice, the community takes an active role while in retributive justice, the state is in charge.
In my opinion, restorative justice is better than retributive justice because its success is measured by how much the harm has been prevented rather than how much punishment is given as in retributive justice. Restorative justice has a lot of benefits to individual and the community. One of the benefits is that it reduces recidivism. When communities accept their people after repairing harm, the likelihood of recidivism is significantly minimized. Secondly, restorative justice increases safety in the community because it empowers people by making their neighborhoods safe and more pleasant places to live. Restorative justice also empowers the victim. When victims are given the opportunity to meet individuals that harmed them, they feel empowered.
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Restorative justice can be incorporated into the current criminal justice system by holding offenders to account for their mistakes and helping them to take responsibility and amend their wrongdoings. Rather than incarcerating them, the convicted individual is allowed to amend through the restitution and apology process. Restitution can be agreed between the offender and the victim or ordered by the court. Therefore, restorative justice is important because it allows the victim and the offender to be given assistance they deserve to easily reintegrate in the community.
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References
Kelly, E. I. (2021). From Retributive to Restorative Justice. Criminal Law and Philosophy , 1-11.
