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Restorative Justice Theory & Practice: Addressing the Discrepancy is a ground-breaking book that examines the harmful gap between the restorative justice theory and its application in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. Data were obtained from four international surveys with over 300 restorative justice practitioners, using a combination of qualitative methodologies, including questionnaires, interviews and focus groups.

Restorative justice projects strive to restore peace after a crime has been committed by involving victims, offenders and community representatives in dialogue. Previous studies reviewed by Dr. Gavrielides have credited these programmes with such benefits as lower recidivism, and higher levels of satisfaction with outcomes among victims, offenders and community representatives, compared to the traditional criminal justice system. However, the author's seven-year research programme uncovered a pervasive gap between restorative justice principles and current restorative justice operations. This gap is blamed for widespread difficulties such as insufficient funding for restorative justice, inadequate training and accreditation of practitioners, lack of faith and commitment among staff, and a tendency for restorative justice over time to become increasingly similar to the standard criminal justice system.

 

Dr. Gavrielides warns that if these problems are not corrected, the original values and benefits of restorative justice may never be realised.

 

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CONTENTS

Foreword;

 

Part One: Arguing and Analysing the literature

  • Restorative theory and practice in context;
  • Restorative justice: The Perplexing concept;
  • The International Dimension of Restorative Justice: From Theory to Policy and Practice;

 

Part Two: Measuring the Gap between the restorative justice theory and practice;

  • Findings from Survey I: The International Practitioners’ Account;
  • Analysing and Triangulating the Findings of Survey I;
  • The Findings: Problems in the Practical and Theoretical Development of Restorative Justice;
  • Findings from Survey II: The UK Practitioners’ Account;

 

Part Three: Pushing the Barriers

  • Findings from Survey III and IV on the Application of Restorative Justice with Hate Crime and Sexual Offences

 

Part Four: Critical Reflections 

  • Mind the Gap Between the Restorative Justice Theory and Practice;
  • A Way Forward; Recommendations for the Restorative Justice Movement;
  • Conclusion.

 

Bibliography; Index; Appendices

Restorative Justice Theory & Practice: Addressing the Discrepancy

£100.00 Regular Price
£40.00Sale Price
  • Gavrielides, T. (2007) Restorative Justice Theory & Practice: Addressing the Discrepancy, HEUNI: Helsinki. ISBN 978-952-5333-32-9.

     

    Also available on Kindle 

     

    "Theo Gavrielides has provided a constructive and thought-provoking contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of one of the most significant contemporary developments in thinking about criminal justice." Nicola Lacey, Professor at LSE, UK

     

    "Restorative justice is a noble concept, but if the actual practice does not match the ideal, it could be discredited. That would be a great loss. Theo Gavrielides has brought together some challenging thoughts about this danger..." Martin Wright, European Forum of restorative justice and Restorative Justice Consortium, UK and EU

     

    "It is a concise, engaging, innovative and informative book for practitioners and scholars. This comprehensive introduction to restorative justice provides a much-needed textbook for an increasingly popular area of study and practice, which can be used as a basis for further theoretical development and elaboration on the concept's limitations and accountability". Effi Lambropoulou, Professor of Criminology Department of Sociology, Panteion University of Social and Politic, Greece

     

    "In a time when restorative justice has been embraced with unbridled enthusiasm by virtually every criminal justice network and dispute resolution stakeholder outside of the criminal justice system, Theo Gavrielides presents us with an original, comprehensive, and essential examination of the subject. This work should be read by anyone and everyone who is the least bit interested in the future health of the restorative justice movement." John Winterdyk, Ph.D. Department of Justice Studies, Chair, Mount Royal College, Canada

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