Attacking Punitive Retribution at Its Heart - A Restorative Justice Thrust

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Restorative justice, aimed at restoring human relations instead of just punishing offenders, is often defended with reference to biblical values like reconciliation, for giveness, and mercy. Advocates of retributivism, which is the philosophy that under lies the practice of punishing perpetrators with the sole goal of inflicting hardship on them, regularly ridicule such defenses. In response we will not directly defend restor ative justice, but critically inquire in the main theoretical arguments with which advo cates of retributivism seek to rationalize their view. We point out the weaknesses of these arguments and why we believe that restorative procedures can do much better in serving the goals of (criminal) justice.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)401-425
Number of pages25
JournalInternational Journal of Public Theology
Volume15
Issue number3
Early online date27 Oct 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© van Willigenburg and Van der Bor ght, 2021.

Keywords

  • Forgiveness
  • Justification of punishment
  • Mercy
  • Restorative justice
  • Retributivism

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