Power Of Restorative Justice

Bibliography

Being changed in the sharing:
The power of story and restorative justice

A Bibliography for those concerned with justice

For many years, people have requested a list of resources for those concerned with justice, penal abolition and prisons. This bibliography is a culmination of years of experience in the field, yet is not exhaustive. Over the past several years, the field of restorative justice has grown, and many more resources are available than those noted here. That said, we know there are many perspectives and ideas about what is useful, and how it is useful. We invite you to share with us titles you think others would appreciate; we will edit the bibliography from time to time and post it.
Contact us at [e-mail].
The movement for penal abolition is a old as prisons, which from their beginning have failed to achieve any of their stated objects (such as individual and general deterrence, rehabilitation, restoring a sense of justice) - except the exercise of vengeance, and the maintenance of a state terrorism that destroys a prisoners’ humanity. While recognizing abolitionist roots in faith communities, social
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research, and historical experiences, this particular collection strives to move beyond traditional issues that focus simply on the inadequacies of state penal systems concerning individuals who offend. Instead, it recognizes that it is increasingly clear that harm is inflicted upon people much more by corporations and nation states rather than by individuals. Most of these corporate entities are based in the wealthy north/western countries, most are highly tied into the political system, and have systemically avoided being penalized for their activities, even when murderous. Given the failure of penality in addressing individual (traditional, street) crime, how should penal abolitionists respond to corporate crime? Abolitionists have traditionally opposed increased control. Should they now
Prisons are microcosms of the societies in which they exist, and by examining them in detail, we can learn about society as a whole. Gilligan suggests treating violence as a public health problem. He advocates initiating radical social and economic change to attack the root causes of violence, focusing on those at increased risk of becoming violent, and dealing with those who are already violent as if they were in quarantine rather than in constraint for their punishment and for society’s revenge. The twentieth century was steeped in violence. If we attempt to understand the violence of individuals, we may come to prevent the collective violence that threatens our future far more than all the individual crimes put together.
Gilligan, James. Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic. UK: Vintage Publishing, 1997.
Drawing on firsthand experience as a prison psychiatrist, his own family history, and literature, Gilligan unveils the motives of men who commit horrifying crimes, men who will not only kill others but destroy themselves rather than suffer a loss of self-respect. With devastating clarity, Gilligan traces the role that shame plays in the etiology