Criminal Justice

Retribution vs. Restoration

Eleanor Hannon Judah

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781136372636
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Health Care Delivery

There are nearly two million inmates in America today. Are there better alternatives to incarceration? Criminal Justice: Retribution vs. Restoration presents new answers and unconventional suggestions addressing America's overcrowded prisons and jails, high recidivism rates, and weakened family and community relationships with ex-prisoners. Experts in the field discuss the benefits and failures of America's criminal justice system at various times in history and today, then explore possibilities to improve on that system. This groundbreaking book introduces encouraging, therapeutic approaches to criminal justice that include treatment, rehabilitation, and the direct involvement the victims, the families, and the communities. Criminal Justice looks at America's over-reliance on punishment and retribution as the means of responding to prevalent social problems and examines the justice system's tendency to incarceraterather than treatminority, mentally ill, poor, and drug-dependent offenders. The authorswho are all active in some field of criminal justiceargue for a restorative model of correction that is more humane to both offenders and victims. This model opens up dialogue between offenders and their victims, families, and communities by promoting hallmark programs, including victim offender mediation, conferencing, peacemaking circles, restitution, and community projects and services. Criminal Justice includes such intriguing topics as:

• the social costs and moral economy of incarceration
• drug policyshould drug users be incarcerated or rehabilitated?
• the potential of restorative justicea first-hand account from a prison inmate
• restorative justice and faith communities
• the practice and efficacy of restorative justice
• the path from fury to forgivenessthe emotions of the mother of a murdered child
• strategies for creating safe and just communities
• women in prisontheir special needs both during incarceration and after re-entry
• social work and criminal justicehow they work together
• grassroots advocacy for criminal justice reforma look back over the last 30 years by the founders of CURE (Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants)

This book's foundation rests on the Biblical concepts of restoration, healing, forgiveness, reconciliation, and responsibility. Criminal Justice: Retribution vs Restoration is an eye-opening look at the negative effects of our current system of blame and punishment and offers hope for better, more humane methods in the future. This holistic, empowering, and strengths-based perspective offers insight and suggestions that are valuable for students, social workers, policymakers, and criminal justice professionals.

Introduction

Rethinking Criminal Justice: Retribution vs. Restoration

Eleanor Hannon Judah

Rev. Michael Bryant

This special volume emerged out of the collective experience of almost thirty years ministering as chaplains in the city jail in Washington, DC, and years of social work, and after listening to the tragic stories of thousands of confined men and women and others. Observing the justice system at work and its effects on the lives of so many broken people and devastated families and communities leads us to believe that there must be a better way of doing justice in our society not only for offenders, but for victims and the community as well. We believe restorative justice offers such hope.

Our present criminal justice philosophy is based on the concept of retribution, that is, "something given or demanded in repayment, especially punishment" (Webster II, 1995), the punishment most often inflicted through imprisonment. This system has failed. But what is meant by restorative justice? It is an entirely different way of approaching crime. "It asks firstly, not how do we punish, but how do we repair the damage done? As a process it offers victims, offenders, and the community positive ways forward that help heal the trauma of crime and reduce reoffending" (Consedine & Bowen, 1999).

Why Change?

In many ways our criminal justice system is closed to the public. Even though courts are open, few citizens involve themselves in court proceedings. Even fewer citizens have an opportunity to observe life behind bars. Establishing policies and legislative action affecting the justice system is left to state and federal legislators who frequently make "get tough" decisions that win them public favor and votes. The media tend to provide the public with the sensational provocative stories that swirl around heinous crimes and punishment, but most often fail to address systemic issues underlying the failure of the justice system. Both legislators and the media provide the public with little appreciation of the raw reality of the system and how it impacts those caught up in it.

Like other professionals, social workers and pastoral counselors know the struggles of families who are victims of crime or have a family member incarcerated, but are often unaware of the magnitude of the effect the justice system has on their clients, thus failing to advocate for reappraisal and change of the system.

Crime victims are usually left to fend for themselves in a system of justice that cares little for them as individuals who have been violated. They are usually either ignored or used by the prosecution as witnesses and then dismissed without recourse of counseling or remuneration.

The proliferation of drugs and the unbridled use of lethal weapons are a deadly reality for millions of Americans. In urban environments a concentration of people of color who are often poor and poorly educated are prime candidates for the justice system, as are the addicted, mentally ill and jobless.

The criminal justice system is clearly in crisis. Currently, two million people in the United States are imprisoned; another 4.7 million are on parole or probation. One consequence of our race to incarcerate is the six hundred thousand men and women who will be released from prison each year for the foreseeable future (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002). And an astounding nine million will cycle back to the community from local jails (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002). The criminal justice system is clearly in crisis.

If the enormous toll in human suffering and social disintegration are not convincing enough, perhaps the staggering economic costs of maintaining such a system of mass incarceration in this era of belt tightening may attract and persuade skeptics that "compassionate conservatism" may demand a more humane (and cheaper) approach.

This collection both documents some of the failures of our present system and offers a better way to think about and do criminal justice, moving beyond the confines of the blame and punishment of retributive justice. Conceived and resting on Biblical concepts of restoration, healing, forgiveness, reconciliation and responsibility, it is intrinsically more compatible and, it is thought, more attractive to the basic philosophy, ethics and values of the readers than the punitive retribution model now in force.

This work is unique in the variety of perspectives offered, and in the fact that all contributors are currently actively involved in some capacity in criminal justice as scholars, researchers, advocates, restorative practioners, social workers and founders of programs, as well as a victim and an incarcerated man. All see an urgent need for "rethinking criminal justice."

The Broken System

Mauer and Coyle set the stage with an overview of our present policy of mass incarceration and its enormous social cost. Braman follows with an up-close and poignant view of the devastation to family networks caused by repeated incarceration of an addicted parent. Sterling connects public policy and racial issues impacting on the use of criminalization of and imprisonment for drug use and the targeting of racial minorities for arrest. In contrast, Johnson presents a glimpse of what is possible with a restorative approach, even within our present punitive system. Still imprisoned after 27 years for a sex assault, he writes of the profound effect of forgiveness in a long delayed meeting with his victim and having the opportunity to take responsibility for his offence, to express his sorrow to her, and to receive her forgiveness.

Another Way

On a hope filled note, Van Ness, in "Justice that Restores," then lays out the basics of another way, restorative justice, an approach that is personal, not impersonal, designed to heal, not just to blame and punish. In Misleh and Hanneman, we learn of the embrace of restorative justice by communities of faith, many of who have already embarked on programs of promotion, education and service. Pranis, a restorative justice practioner and planner for a state corrections system, addresses the questions of what restorative justice looks like and its efficacy. She describes practices of restorative justice in criminal justice and other contexts as well as its challenges and limitations. Jaeger Lane, mother of a murdered child, then tells of her own journey from fury to forgiveness of the man who abducted and killed her young daughter.

Getting There

Travis speaks to the consequences to communities of extremely high incarceration rates, which in time vitiate morale and resiliency and impede the capacity to function as a community, and suggests a role for community engagement in reducing the current reliance on incarceration. Galbraith spells out the unique characteristics of women inmates and, using the program she founded, offers a model for empowering and supporting women while incarcerated and upon return to the community. Reamer discusses the devolution of the social work profession's early involvement in criminal justice, and offers suggestions for reintegration of social work and criminal justice in ways that reflect its unique values and mission. Finally, the Sullivans, founders of a national criminal justice grass roots advocacy organization, recount the 30-year saga of two determined advocates for criminal justice reform. The wins and the losses, the epiphanies and false starts are recounted, but, in the end, the conclusion: "The struggle is its own reward."

Quo Vadis?

The philosophy/process/practice of restorative justice is emerging in many settings from state prisons systems to small community groups in response to a growing recognition that a criminal justice system that has abandoned rehabilitation for punishment at great economic and social costs, and has staggering recidivism rates, has largely failed. In contrast to other enterprises, the growth of our incarceration corrections enterprise thrives on its own failure to "correct." The poorer the job, the better the growth. In a tragic paradox, its failure is its success.

Public social policy change comes when a vision of a better way of confronting problems is in view, a "paradigm shift." Only then can problems be redefined and novel solutions proposed. Restorative justice practice offers glimpses of just such a vision, even as it is in the process of its own development as a way to do justice. It attracts with its humane and hope filled, new yet ancient philosophy and vision of true justice based on restoration, restitution, forgiveness, and reconciliation. As in the best social work practice, it takes a holistic, system-wide view of the social situation, includes all players in solutions, affirms the dignity, worth and uniqueness of every human involved and their capacity for growth and change; its dynamic is strength based and empowering. It is even inspiring, for there is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come.

Conclusion

The profession of social work, having backed away from its early and distinguished involvement in criminal justice as the more punitive approach strengthened, now has a unique opportunity to become a part of an approach that is entirely compatible with the profession's philosophy, ethics and values. Social workers can not only contribute their skills in the many aspects of the practice of restorative justice, but importantly, can help to define policy issues and strategies, propose solutions in human terms, conduct research on emerging policy and practice and advocate for change.

Pastoral counselors and others in faith-based communities share many of the ethics and values of social workers. Churches, mosques, synagogues and other groups too are often sleeping giants in the area of criminal justice reform. Agents of reconciliation and healing, faith communities in partnership with government may have increasing opportunities to ease the pain of victims, give support to men and women returning from prison and help to reestablish peace and order in communities. Further, with new knowledge of restorative approaches to criminal justice, faith communities are increasingly recognizing their own moral authority and obligation to challenge existing public policy and to work toward restoration and healing to all who are touched by crime.

[Haworth co-indexing entry note]: “Rethinking Criminal Justice: Retribution vs. Restoration.” Judah, Eleanor Hannon, and Rev. Michael Bryant. Co-published simultaneously in Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work (The Haworth Social Work Practice Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 23, No. 1/2, 2004, pp. 1-6; and: Criminal Justice: Retribution vs. Restoration (ed: Eleanor Hannon Judah, and Rev. Michael Bryant) The Haworth Social Work Practice Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 2004, pp. 1-6. Single or multiple copies of this article are available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service [1-800- HAWORTH, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (EST). E-mail address: [email protected]].

http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JRSSW

© 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J377v23n01_01

References

Bureau of Justice Statistics (2001). Prison statistic: Probation and parole statistics: Recent trends. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Consedine, J. & Bowen H. (Eds.) (1999). Restorative justice: Contemporary themes and practice. Lyttleton, New Zealand: Ploughshares Publications.

Personal Communication with Alan Beck, Bureau of Justice Statistics, February 13, 2003.

Webster's II New College Dictionary (1995). Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.

The Social Cost of America's Race to Incarcerate

Marc Mauer Marc Mauer, MSW, is Assistant Director of The Sentencing Project and the author of Race to Incarcerate (The New Press) and the editor, with Meda Chesney-Lind, of Invisible Punishment: The Collateral Consequences of Mass Imprisonment (The New Press). Address correspondence to: The Sentencing Project, 514 10th Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20004 (E-mail: [email protected]).

Michael Coyle Michael Coyle, MTS, is a PhD student in Justice Studies at Arizona State University. His research interests include class, ethnicity, and race in incarceration, prisoners' human rights, and alternatives to incarceration. Address correspondence to: School of Justice Studies, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 870403, Tempe, AZ 85287-0403 (E-mail: [email protected]).

SUMMARY. Over the past three decades, the United States has been engaged in an unprecedented expansion of its prison system, with the national inmate population rising from just over 300,000 in 1972 to nearly two million today. Much of this increase has been related to an overreliance on the criminal justice system as a means of responding to social problems and, in particular, to the expansion of harsh sentencing policies. There is little evidence that these policies have had any substantial impact on crime, but they have been increasingly harmful to family and neighborhood stability in low-income communities of color. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Incarceration, sentencing, racial disparity, crime control

Comparing Social Problems and Approaches

In the mid-1980s the United States was wracked by a profound health crisis that was both unique and frightening. As the nation began to learn of the rapid spread of the HIV virus, public attention and significant federal resources focused on discovering the source of the virus and on developing the means of effectively responding to it. Fifteen years later, there has been a tremendous toll in human lives and suffering, but important progress has been made as well. HIV/AIDS education and prevention curricula are now commonplace in a vast array of school and community settings, and the rapid development of new drug therapies has served to enable many with the disease to continue to lead productive lives.

Coinciding with the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in the mid-1980s was another epidemic that also brought great tragedy and suffering. This epidemic was one of violence associated with the introduction and spread of crack cocaine, initially in urban areas and then spreading to other communities. As teenagers and others in many neighborhoods armed themselves with lethal weapons to protect their drug "turf," murder rates spiked sharply in the second half of the 1980s, particularly among African American males.

The reaction to crack cocaine and the v...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Title
• Contents
• INTRODUCTION
• Index