Sex, Gender, Becoming - PULP

142 Jean Triegaardt and Mike Batley
of criminals, restorative justice has been mooted as an approach to
deal with the effects and underlying causes of crime. This chapter
reflects on restorative justice with reference to research undertaken
concerning a small group of victims of domestic violence who have
participated in a restorative justice programme.
2. Restorative jutice
According to Batley, ‘restorative justice argues that acknowledging
the needs and harms suffered by victims and creating the opportunity
for offenders to demonstrate an effort to make right in a
comprehensive way is what will bring a real sense of justice, vindication
and lasting solutions for all concerned’. 5 Restorative justice
may be defined as a process to involve, to the extent possible, those
who have a stake in a specific offence to collectively identify and
address harms and obligations in order to heal and put things as right
as possible. 6 Restorative justice interventions involve identifying the
needs, responsibilities and obligations with the victim and offender,
together with other stakeholders such as the community, 7 the family
and the state. The Victim Offender Conferencing (VOC) model has
been proposed as an alternative to ordinary criminal trials and
sanctions in the hope of creating an environment which humanises the
criminal justice system. Typical outcomes of a VOC would include an
apology, restitution and diversion. Central to the VOC model is that
the victim is guided through a face-to-face process with the offender
who has hurt her or him.
The White Paper for Social Welfare (1997) provides a framework for
principles, guidelines and recommendations for developmental welfare
programmes for offenders, victims of crimes and their families.
In addition, the National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) (1996) is a
comprehensive policy framework for crime prevention and control.
The White Paper for Social Welfare and the NCPS both embrace the
restorative justice paradigm. 8
5
M Batley ‘Restorative justice’ in L Davis & R Snyman Victimology in South Africa
(2005) 117 129.
6 H Zehr ‘Listening to victims: Implications for restorative justice practice in the US
and abroad’ unpublished seminar paper, University of Minnesota, 2002.
7 The term ‘community’ as it is used in restorative justice literature refers to those
who have been affected by a crime incident. See P McCold & B Wachtel
‘Community is not a place: A new look at community justice initiatives’
unpublished paper presented at the International conference on justice without
violence: Views from peacemaking, criminology and restorative justice, Albany,
5-7 June, 1997.
8 See eg the White paper for social welfare (1997) 85