‘Transforming justice’: challenges for restorative justice in an era of punishment-based corrections

Scholars of restorative justice have long debated its theoretical relationship with formal criminal justice. This analysis critically examines the range of sociostructural conditions in contemporary society that have halted the spread of restorative policies in practice and prevented them from realizing their transformative potential as an alternative system of justice. These factors are attributed largely to a punitive penal culture that is characterized by policy-making based on penal populism, the governance of risk and a managerialist criminal justice agenda; and the widespread co-optation of restorative programs by the state. This broad argument is explored in the context of two particular case studies – recent developments in youth justice and in sexual offending respectively in England and Wales and elsewhere. This examination ultimately highlights challenges for restorative justice in the current risk-driven penal climate and advocates a need to re-evaluate its relationship with formal state justice.

Mediation within Irish Construction Industry: Identifying Success Factors for Appropriate Competencies and Processes

The construction industry notoriously excels at dispute creation both in Ireland and abroad. This paper examines mediation in the Irish construction industry as a means of conflict and dispute resolution. It aims to identify success factors for appropriate competencies and processes required by mediators and other parties operating in the construction industry. Methodology includes a thorough review of the literature, followed by detailed interviews from industry experts to elicit and highlight the core competencies required. To aid in the analysis, qualitative analysis using mind mapping software was used. The findings suggest that facilitative mediation was best suited for the Irish construction industry. 13 and 17 success factors were identified as key skills necessary for a mediator and for a successful mediation process. For the skills, it ranges across behavioural, technical and intellectual skills. The mediation process factors can be split into actions of the mediator and other parties in the dispute. The results are similar to those identified in other countries and provide a good reference point for the development of the global construction industry. By following the findings of this report mediators and parties in dispute can improve processes and be more successful in mediation outcomes as a means of resolving conflicts and dispute.

Restorative Justice and Sex Offending

This essay examines the origins and uses of restorative justice with sexual offending and the contemporary challenges and controversies surrounding this. It charts the range of ad hoc initiatives which have sought to apply a restorative form of intervention with violent or sexual offending from first time and ‘acquaintance’ rape as well as young sexual abusers to high risk sexual offenders in the form of circles of support and accountability. Such schemes are often presented as a counter to the failings of retributive forms of justice and are premised on Braithwaite’s (1989) notion of ‘reintegrative shaming’ that seek to reintegrate offenders into the community. Critics of restorative justice traditionally put forward a number of core objectives when restorative justice is applied to serious forms of offending such as sexual offending. The essay also sets out and seeks to counter these principal challenges and how they may be overcome. For the most part, however, restorative justice has failed to reach its potential as a fully fledged sentencing rationale in being applied as a mainstream response to a wide range of offending including that at the higher end of the spectrum. The essay also seeks to examine barriers to restorative justice within contemporary penal policy and to highlight some of the most controversial applications of the restorative paradigm including those related to clergy sexual abuse. It concludes by offering some thoughts on the future of restorative justice as a mainstream responses to serious forms of offending.