The Restorative Justice Wager: The Promise and Hope of a Value-Based, Dialogue-Driven Approach to Conflict Resolution for Social Healing
Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 8, p. 565, 2006-2007
43 Pages Posted: 2 Apr 2013
Date Written: January 1, 2006
Abstract
This article speaks of restorative justice dialogue as a “wager,” asserting its truth as a matter of reason and experience while acknowledging the limits of both reason and experience, as well as embracing an openness to its amendment as future thought and experience might dictate. In this article, the author explores the deep assumptions and commitments associated with the restorative justice wager in order to describe the important contribution that restorative justice has to offer to conventional forms of conflict resolution. The author argues that the restorative dialogue practice of talking circles strikingly embodies the restorative justice wager and invites us to construct a relational theory of restorative justice by taking the principle of internal relations of Process Thought seriously as a way to do so. The author breaks this discussion apart in three sections including the following: (1) the definition in a criminal context, (2) peacemaking circles, and (3) the theory of restorative justice.
Keywords: Restorative justice, wager, restoration, conflict resolution, peacemaking circles
JEL Classification: J52, K14, K00
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation