Accountability in Restorative Justice
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:27th Feb '03
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£34.99(9780199274277)
In reviving the idea of an informal approach to conflict resolution, the Restorative Justice movement attempts to break out of the predominantly punitive thinking which shapes modern criminal justice. Its proponents claim that its guiding ideals - personalism, participation, reparation, and reintegration - deliver a fairer, more effective, and more humane justice than does the court system. However, a simplistic tendency both to extol the virtues of restorative justice and to denigrate all conventional formal approaches risks blinding enthusiasts to the dangers inherent in unchecked participant power, as well as to the protection which state institutions and professionals can provide to individuals and communities. The procedural safeguard of institutional accountability helps reduce these dangers. Examining the experiences of 25 programmes in six countries, Accountability in Restorative Justice uncovers a number of neglected, overlapping, and incomplete types of accountability, including the informal type built into deliberations between victims and offenders and their supporters. This deliberative accountability can provide a rigorous check for regulating decision-making, holding state agencies accountable, and monitoring the completion of agreements reached between participants. This book also considers the role played by formal types of accountability, such as external review. It suggests a new approach, in which judges become more involved in monitoring the quality of deliberation in restorative justice conferences than with enforcing traditional sentencing principles.
... a major contribution to knowledge and debate about the prospects and problems of restorative justice. It is theoretically sophisticated and impeccably researched. It also has the merit of being a highly readable, empirically researched book. Roche never falls into the trap of overloading the reader with empirical observations and findings. The empirical material he does present is always put to good work, illustrating and supporting his claims and recommendations ... an outstanding study which advances significantly knowledge and the quality of debate about restorative justice. * Legal Studies 09/09/2004 *
This book should be read both by those who are, and who are not, advocates of restorative justice; it could open an important debate about the whole question of coercive, rather than persuasive, social control. * British Society of Criminology Newsletter *
This is a really good book. It draws from a wide range of international settings, without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail, it moves smoothly from complex theoretical frameworks of accountability to a persuasive grasp of the practical realities faced by restorative justice practitioners and it is written in an engaging and highly readable style ... Declan Roche has done restorative justice a considerable service. * Kieran McEvoy, British Journal of Criminology *
Roche's exploration of ... the relationship between accountability and the privacy of the participants, the integrity of the proceedings, the role of the media ... is as persuasive and nuanced as anything I have read on this issue. * Kieran McEvoy, British Journal of Criminology *
Compared to other texts on [Restorative Justice], this... is exceptional: it offers readers a concrete and dynamic view of [Restorative Justice's] promise and risks, a reflective and synthetic discussion of the importance of trust and accountability in criminal justice institutions, and an engagement with formal legality and state justice that goes well beyond words in boxes and bubbles from below. * Theoretical Criminology *
' ... Throughout the book Roche presents clear, very concrete and well-supported recommendations as to how the practice [of restorative justice] can be revised and developed to bring it in line with the ideal ... I regard Accountability in Restorative Justice as a major contribution to knowledge and debate about the prospects and problems of restorative justice. It is theoretically sophisticated and impeccably researched. It also has the merit of being a highly readable, empirically researched book' * Professor Gerry Johnstone, University of Hull, Legal Studies *
- Winner of Winner of the British Society of Criminology Book Prize 2003.
ISBN: 9780199259359
Dimensions: 225mm x 144mm x 23mm
Weight: 509g
336 pages