Restoring Harm: A Psycho-Social Approach to Victims and Restorative Justice (Routledge Frontiers of Criminal Justice)

by Daniela Bolívar Fernández (Author), Daniela Bolívar (Author), Daniela Bolívar (Author), Daniela Bolívar Fernández (Author)

• New

  Hardcover
  2016

  $160.08

  To what extent is restorative justice able to `restore' the harm suffered by victims of crimes of interpersonal violence? Restorative justice is an innovative, participatory and inclusive reaction to crime that permits victims and offenders to engage in a communication process about the consequences of the offense. It looks to the future, actively involving parties to find, agree and implement ways to repair the harm.

  Restoring Harm analyses the restoration process from a psycho-social point of view and discusses the role of victim-offender mediation within such a process. It brings together literature from the fields of restorative justice, victimology and psychology, and shares original findings from victims who were interviewed in Belgium and Spain. This book not only offers descriptive findings but also provides a theoretical and comprehensive model that elucidates several possibilities for why victim-offender mediation may or may not play a role in victims' processes of emotional restoration.

  Well-informed and well-documented, this volume brings together evidence from different regions and develops a detailed discussion of the effectiveness of restorative justice regarding victims. Providing new and solid evidence thanks to a quasi-experimental methodological design, theory and practice come together to offer relevant reflections for researchers and practitioners that are concerned about the victim's position within victim-offender mediation and desire to develop a victim-sensitive restorative justice practice.