CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR - RESTORATIVE JUSTICE VICTIM OFFENDER MEDIATION, Essay

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR - RESTORATIVE JUSTICE VICTIM OFFENDER MEDIATION, POSITIVE IMPACT, CONSIDERATION OF VICTIMS IN CJS, NEGATIVE IMPACT, DOES RESTORATIVE JUSTIC - Essay Example Punishment and penal institutions, which, ideally, should be the answer to this malady, seem to produce an angrier, undesirable convicts more likely to become recidivists. Judicial systems and policy makers are, thus, under public pressure to find alternatives to traditional justice systems. Ruth Morris (1994) explains that a shift to alternative models is practical because, first, it is expensive to maintain prisons and finally, incarceration and punishment is unjust and immoral. â€Å"Our retributive justice system is based on a spirit of revenge which does not satisfy the primary healthy needs of victims, offenders, or society.† (Morris, 1994) One of the emergent alternatives to traditional justice systems is the restorative justice model. Currently, it is being integrated and used in criminal justice systems of some countries like the United Kingdom. Restorative justice, according to Les Davey, Director Real Justice United Kingdom and Ireland (March 2005), are the processes that respond to crime and wrongdoing by involving victims, offenders and their communities of care, that is, their family and friends. â€Å"Restorative Justice centers around hearing what harm a crime has caused, and finding the best way to address that harm.† (Mediation) Paul McCold, et. al. (May, 1998) coined the words â€Å"full restorative† if all the participants are involved in the process, â€Å"mostly restorative† if there are two stakeholders and â€Å"partly restorative† if there is only one party involved. â€Å"Restorative justice sometimes happens in the context of a courtroom, and sometimes within a community or nonprofit organization. In the courtroom, the process might look like this: For petty or first-time offenses, a case may be referred to restorative justice as a pretrial diversion, with charges being dismissed after fulfillment of the restitution agreement. In more