Restorative Justice Eligibility
Restorative justice is a significant process that addresses crime by paying attention to the needs, harms, and obligations to repair and heal relationships. The philosophy of racial justice holds that every individual is capable of healing and change. Community safety and accountability are significant adequate to achieve across every spectrum of harm including violent crimes through the process of retroactive justice rather than punishment (Díaz Gude & Navarro Papic, 2020). I think all offenders and crimes except for murder and rape should be eligible for a restorative justice approach. Prison is not a conducive environment to the obligations and needs of people who have committed any type of crime. It is the restorative justice teachings and practices that will make the behavior of a person change unlike just sitting behind bars.
Restorative justice can be applied to crimes since it helps individuals who have encountered the most serious offenses and victims of low-level crimes. However, there are specific crimes such as murder, sexual offenses, and domestic violence that should not be used on a restorative justice approach under any circumstance. This is because these crimes can pose significant challenges. Among these challenges include the safety of the victim, traumatic impacts of the crime on the victims, and re-victimization fear. There are also very limited victim assistance services especially follow-up support systems (Díaz Gude & Navarro Papic, 2020). Most of these offenses are extremely serious and offenders are likely to repeat them even with the restorative justice process.
I would use a specific criterion in determining a person’s eligibility for a restorative justice process. First, an offender’s case will be screened. During the screening, I will determine the seriousness of the crime committed. If the crime is anything related to murder, sexual offense, and domestic violence, an individual will be eliminated. Also, I will determine the records of the offender; an individual will become automatically eligible if he or she has a clean record. I will also consider the attitude of the offenders and their families. To become eligible, an individual should be ready to admit to all the crimes.
Reference
Díaz Gude, A., & Navarro Papic, I. (2020). Restorative justice and legal culture. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 20(1), 57-75.
