Restoring Respect For Justice

Description

With a Foreword by Howard Zehr. This newly enhanced Waterside Press Classic records a symposium where imaginary presenters – a Politician, Judge, Psychologist, Probation Officer, Victim Assistance Worker, Philosopher and Mediator discuss crime and punishment. This is the springboard for Martin Wright’s review of developments in the field of Restorative Justice, where he is highly regarded as a commentator and authority, having been director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, policy officer of Victim Support, and librarian at the Cambridge Institute of Criminology. Challenges many ‘sacred cows’ of crime and punishment; Focuses on the effect on the people who suffer directly, the victims; A key theme is that if society as a whole does not encourage respect then it ought to be no surprise if offenders have scant regard for the property, physical integrity or rights of others; A bad system can serve to weaken not improve safety and security. Universally acclaimed since it was first issued in 1999 and essential reading for practitioners and students alike, this enhanced edition of Restoring Respect for Justice points to the dangers of a punitive mindset and refelcts on the arguments and data in fabour of an effective, inclusionary, community-based response to crime.

Reviews

‘I admire and learn from Wright’s role-play on how to overcome reservations against victim-offender mediation in particular. There is a wealth of data including research references in [ this ] volume. I thought I was familiar with RJ literature. [ This ] volume taught me much about RJ that I had not known’: International Criminal Justice Review

‘[Martin Wright’s] approach allows the work to focus on the effects of crime and punishment on the people who suffer directly in the process – the victims. From this there emerges a key idea, if not the theme for the book: if society does not encourage respect, then it should not be surprised if offenders show little respect for the rights, property or integrity of others. The result is a strong plea for an effective, inclusive, community based response to crime, which breaks away from a punitive way of thinking and responding to crime and its perpetrators and its victims:’ Internet Law Book Reviews

Author

Martin Wright is a former Director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, Policy Officer of Victim Support, and Librarian of the Cambridge Institute of Criminology. He is a Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, and the author of Making Good: Prisons, Punishment and Beyond and Justice for Victims and Offenders. He is joint editor of Mediation and Criminal Justice: Victims, Offenders and Community. A founder member of the Restorative Justice Consortium, he is currently a member of its board, and acts as a voluntary mediator in the Lambeth Mediation Service, London. As an active member of the European Forum for Restorative Justice he has spoken at many international conferences, and is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute for Conflict Resolution, Bulgaria. The first edition of Restoring Respect for Justice has been translated into Russian and Polish.