This chapter explores recent developments in restorative justice theory, research, and practice. It examines reasons why it has been challenging to define restorative justice and offers a definition that articulates the relationship between values, processes, and outcomes. It then explores the main theoretical traditions that seek to explain how and why restorative justice ‘works’ as a response to crime: shame theories, procedural justice theories, and ritual theories. Following this, it reviews the empirical evidence on how offenders and victims experience restorative justice compared to court, and whether it can reduce reoffending. It concludes by surveying select debates and tensions that arise as the practice continues to evolve.
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33. Restorative justice in the twenty-first century: Making emotions mainstream
Meredith Rossner
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39. Punishment in the community: Evolution, expansion, and moderation
Gwen Robinson and Fergus McNeill
This chapter examines the development and expansion of community sanctions and measures in the UK since the introduction of probation in the early twentieth century. After introducing the main types of punishment in the community (supervision; unpaid work; treatment and other activities; restrictions and prohibitions), it considers their evolution in relation to four main rationales: rehabilitation, reparation, management, and punitiveness. The chapter then reviews some key sociological perspectives on punishment in the community, focusing on work inspired by Foucault, Durkheim, and Marx. Finally, it provides an introduction to recent research on punishment in the community in other jurisdictions, particularly Europe and the USA. The chapter presents two main conclusions: firstly, that there is now substantial international evidence to suggest that the expansion of punishment in the community has failed to deliver reductions in the use of imprisonment; and secondly, that arguments for penal moderation should take into account the ‘painful’ character of community sanctions and measures.
